Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

 3DS
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 419 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 356 out of 419
  2. Mixed: 37 out of 419
  3. Negative: 26 out of 419
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  1. Bugggger
    Aug 23, 2023
    10
    One of the best games on the 3ds, and one of the best remakes ever made. This game manages to be impressively faithful to Gaiden while also adding in it's own new things such as combat arts and 70ish% of the story and characters. Not all of it works, like Conrad, but most of it fits in perfectly. And it's not like I hate Conrad or anything, it's just really easy to tell he was added in,One of the best games on the 3ds, and one of the best remakes ever made. This game manages to be impressively faithful to Gaiden while also adding in it's own new things such as combat arts and 70ish% of the story and characters. Not all of it works, like Conrad, but most of it fits in perfectly. And it's not like I hate Conrad or anything, it's just really easy to tell he was added in, like in an Atlus Girl kind of way if you know what I mean.… Expand
  2. JustAGameGuy
    May 14, 2023
    4
    Easily my least favourite 3DS Fire Emblem. Playing through this game was miserable, with a mediocre story and boring gameplay. After the great time I had playing Fates and Awakening, I was hoping to enjoy Shadows of Valentia, before I was met with a terrible omen of things to come - one inventory slot. As the game progresses, things get worse. Boring boat maps, Cantors infinitely spawningEasily my least favourite 3DS Fire Emblem. Playing through this game was miserable, with a mediocre story and boring gameplay. After the great time I had playing Fates and Awakening, I was hoping to enjoy Shadows of Valentia, before I was met with a terrible omen of things to come - one inventory slot. As the game progresses, things get worse. Boring boat maps, Cantors infinitely spawning monsters - and later on - teleporting witches, desert maps that slow anyone without a Pegasus to a crawl, swamp maps that force you to walk through damaging swamps just to complete the map - there’s no other way to beat them!

    I ended up quitting the game right as I reached act 5, because despite the fact that I was so close to finishing, I could not handle it anymore. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a miserable experience and I could only ever recommend it to superfans of the Fire Emblem Series.    … Expand
  3. Traumereix
    Feb 7, 2023
    10
    This was the last good entry from the franchise unfortunately...................
  4. Phrancium
    Feb 6, 2023
    9
    great game, great use of two different paths, good story telling, interesting new mechanics, and likeable characters
  5. Plumbo2000
    Jan 29, 2023
    9
    A beautiful and spellbinding experience that only really suffers from a failure to update old maps from the NES era.
  6. klaaz
    Jan 25, 2023
    6
    A remake that feels old because it is afraid to change outdated mechanics from its original version even though they had already been modernized in FE Awakening and Fates.
  7. Kalcool12
    Dec 4, 2022
    3
    | Nothing Redeeming |

    I don't want to be too harsh in this game because there are certainly some things I enjoyed. From the combat, many of the characters, and a lot of ideas I thought were very good. However... there's nothing else. The game attempted to implement this exploration-dungeon thing, and I did not enjoy it. The game had different characters than the previous    | Nothing Redeeming |

    I don't want to be too harsh in this game because there are certainly some things I enjoyed. From the combat, many of the characters, and a lot of ideas I thought were very good. However... there's nothing else.

    The game attempted to implement this exploration-dungeon thing, and I did not enjoy it. The game had different characters than the previous installments, and none are as memorable as Awakening's or Fates' characters. The story is interesting and builds up to big surprises, but nothing comes close to the Lucina twist or Grima storyline or Three Houses' twists or... yeah.

    Overall, this is a game that follows the Fire Emblem formula, but with nothing better than its contemporaries.    … Expand
  8. hector_bcn98
    Nov 4, 2022
    9
    Tiene todo lo que debería ser un remake de Fire Emblem. Historia de calidad, personajes y dualidad de ellos interesantísima, dificultad muy bien ajustada... En resumen, un remake esplendoroso y sin necesidad de comprarlo dos veces, pagar contenido descargable... Compra obligada.
  9. BetaPlayer
    Aug 1, 2022
    8
    The only thing that suck about this game is the Celica levels, specially the desert ones,. Everything else is great. All the characters (except Faye because she's always talking about Alm) are likeable.
  10. Josenolito72
    May 24, 2022
    9
    Este juego es uno de los más grandes de la consola. Realmente es una experiencia única la cual muy pocos juegos te pueden dar aunque haya quejas sobre su jugabilidad. Historia de 10, gráficos y diseños de 10 y banda sonora, uffff la banda sonora de 1000. Simplemente un fantástico fire emblem Se tiene que probar aunque sea solo una vez. MAGISTRAL!!!
  11. attemptatreason
    Oct 29, 2021
    9
    I agree with the user ratings but not the critics, definitely not near an 8/10. This game is amazing, to be Frank. Any level of player can pick it up and enjoy it, it expands on the core mechanics of what the FE series did amazingly (combat). This includes the blacksmith - which to my knowledge was the precursor of fe3h. Also, an in-game model where you move freely which brings the spritesI agree with the user ratings but not the critics, definitely not near an 8/10. This game is amazing, to be Frank. Any level of player can pick it up and enjoy it, it expands on the core mechanics of what the FE series did amazingly (combat). This includes the blacksmith - which to my knowledge was the precursor of fe3h. Also, an in-game model where you move freely which brings the sprites to life well. I didn't think I'd like the "double party" system within one game, but overtime both the two seperate parties became fun to play. The promotion system was also very generous and rewarding, also super satisfying to hear the statue music and the promotions. The characters were super likeable or hateable, but regardless all art and sprites looked amazing and consistent. The look is very unique to the FE games but it works. I thought the way they used a "pad wheel" for the auto battling made farming and combat super simplified. I do recall an overabundance of dragons just everywhere, I believe in the Cecilia route - having more enemy diversity may have helped at certain stages. Also new to the FE titles was the voice acting - I am so happy this game had top level voice acting all the way through - even a year after beating the game, I can hear the voices of each character pretty vividly every time I see the characters. This game is amazing and is a must play for any one that enjoys turned based combat and army building.… Expand
  12. Den162047
    Oct 15, 2021
    10
    Неплохая игра на 3дс, не знание прошлых частей игр, не мешает играть так как история самостоятельная, а ещё как человеку который не играет в стратегии и РПГ от слова совсем, боевая система очень понравилась
  13. D_Games
    Oct 15, 2021
    10
    My actual favorite game. I started my FE journey with Awakening then Fates. I started playing the old GBA titles and even emulated PoR & RD. Without a doubt Shadows of Valentia stands on the shoulders of the titles that came before.
  14. Rodrigohonorio
    Sep 1, 2021
    9
    I really like this game. The units are great and the cutscenes also look nice. The dungeons is kinda boring.
  15. Zorwasa
    Aug 9, 2021
    0
    the dungeons a terrible, later on into the game you have you main character fight 1v10 and its rng if you win or not, and thats at the end of the dungeon, so if you lose you have to replay an 1 hour of gameplay, so **** terrible game design
  16. Alecseus
    Apr 30, 2021
    10
    Finally finished this awesome game. The best part of the series after Geneology.
    The old traditions of the series are combined with new mechanics.
    But DLCs arent worth its price.
  17. tukumalu
    Jan 30, 2021
    10
    Among the best in the series with groundbreaking 3D animation, amazing voice acting and intriguing characters.
  18. sandora85
    Jan 17, 2021
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Worst story I everseen every cutscene make angry you Celica most idiotic and selfish person.MC is a cry baby and how many times enemy escape your hand omfg.… Expand
  19. piff2000
    Dec 29, 2020
    8
    I think this game sets the standard for how an NES remake should be done. The updated art and voice acting along with new characters and features breathes new life into the game. Sometimes the map design shows its age, but other than that it’s a captivating adventure.
  20. Hasancan2001
    Dec 27, 2020
    6
    I started playing this game so that I could work my way up to the last game because I knew that if I played them in reverse order everything would seem old and clunky. So this is my first experience with fire emblem and it gravely disappointed me. I started the game in classic mode to the full experience and was amazed by how well the game pulled you into it's story and immediately madeI started playing this game so that I could work my way up to the last game because I knew that if I played them in reverse order everything would seem old and clunky. So this is my first experience with fire emblem and it gravely disappointed me. I started the game in classic mode to the full experience and was amazed by how well the game pulled you into it's story and immediately made you care about the characters. The story was instantly compelling and dialogues as well as character models were excellent. Every character felt like they were an actual person. I started my first few fights and loved the sharpness of the gameplay despite the lack of enemy variety in the game. I could only manage the health of my characters, the weapons triangle wasn't there (yet). But I kept on playing because the fighting animations were done very well and theydidn't get old quick despite them being repetitive. I hit my first and last wall with the leather shield merc. He felt impossible to get through with all my characters still intact. So I couldn't, after many quit and reloads the best performance I got was killing the guy while only sacrificing Tobin. He had volunteered to join our quest so he could make the money to feed his family. It was sad seeing him go like that, I mourned my loss and moved on to the outpost I had recovered from the enemy. The game broke before my eyes when I entered the dungeons and the game showed a dialogue scene where Tobin -whom just sacrified his life for the quest- was casually chatting with Gray. My actions that were supposed to have so much weight just seemed dismal and the game degraded from a perilous journey of a group of friends where every decision of their leader mattered and had tangible meaning, to a strategy game that lacked depth and repeated itself way too often at the beginning stage. I know it was way too early to judge the fighting system but the lack of weight your decisions have on the story would only get worse and that was for me the main selling point of the game. I can think of many games with much better strategy elements, the perma-death system was the thing that made the game unique and it still does -except for x-com?- but you should know that it has no applications to the story. I will try my luck with other games from the series but so far this franchise has disappointed me.… Expand
  21. PyroFierceDeity
    Dec 1, 2020
    9
    Being e remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second game in the series and only released in Japan at the time, Intelligent Systems knocks it out of the park again with an excellent remake and an excellent Fire Emblem game. People might crucify me on this one but I like it way more than Awakening. I do respect and love Awakening however since it saved Intelligent Systems from going bankruptBeing e remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second game in the series and only released in Japan at the time, Intelligent Systems knocks it out of the park again with an excellent remake and an excellent Fire Emblem game. People might crucify me on this one but I like it way more than Awakening. I do respect and love Awakening however since it saved Intelligent Systems from going bankrupt which means this franchise would have died right after Awakening.

    The music is again excellent in this one, and it once again fits the narrative very well. The story was also excellent as well. It had some nice twists I didn't see coming, and I grew very attached to Alm and Celica. Alm's story arc and character development were absolutely epic and the change in music in the later acts make the late game a masterpiece. I also love how the post-game ties in with Awakening story-wise. The gameplay was fun and it actually felt challenging at certain points. You really needed to formulate a strategy or else it you would struggle. This game introduce the turn back time mechanic which was also added in Three Houses, but I found myself rarely using it in this one. A good strategy was mainly all you needed. I always recommend not letting anyone die because seeing all your characters make it out in the end is very heartwarming.

    An excellent and damn near masterpiece for the 3DS and I recommend it to ALL 3DS users.    … Expand
  22. Reed_Reviews
    Oct 27, 2020
    9
    As the final Fire Emblem game of the 3DS era, Shadows of Valentia delivers a compelling character-bases narrative accentuated by a rich score and engaging gameplay.
    Story: 9/10 Simple, yet entertaining due to its well written structure. Each line can be individually savored.
    Voice Acting: 10/10 Each line of dialogue is delivered by a professional cast. Voice actors of Berkut, Alm, and    As the final Fire Emblem game of the 3DS era, Shadows of Valentia delivers a compelling character-bases narrative accentuated by a rich score and engaging gameplay.
    Story: 9/10 Simple, yet entertaining due to its well written structure. Each line can be individually savored.
    Voice Acting: 10/10 Each line of dialogue is delivered by a professional cast. Voice actors of Berkut, Alm, and Mae characterize their lines particularly well.
    Visuals: 8/10 The hand drawn character models and subtle Greek mythology art style add a lot of charm. The 3D models used in cutscenes, however, will not age well.
    Music: 9/10 An enjoyable leitmotif appears frequently throughout songs and sound effects, giving the game's music a binded and cohesive sense.
    Gameplay: 9/10 The new gameplay addition of Mila's Turnwheel will help propel the Fire Emblem franchise forward for years to come. Shadows of Valentia plays with the idea of dungeons, which would have been a thrilling area for the game to pursue if it doubled down on this new addition. The downside is that many of the faithfully created maps are dated, and thus not contributive to strategic gameplay. Repetitive enemy encounters in dungeons with no variety also drag pacing.

    Overall: 9/10    … Expand
  23. BappiBoi399
    Aug 26, 2020
    8
    Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is nothing but a masterful mix of emotional storytelling, sweeping music, and overall invigorating detail and atmosphere. Where it tends to fall short, however, is in the primary game play and actual meat of the franchise: the combat and stratagem. Although the animations are interesting and smooth, the faithful yet outdated maps and mechanics makeFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is nothing but a masterful mix of emotional storytelling, sweeping music, and overall invigorating detail and atmosphere. Where it tends to fall short, however, is in the primary game play and actual meat of the franchise: the combat and stratagem. Although the animations are interesting and smooth, the faithful yet outdated maps and mechanics make this game mostly more of a chore to complete than an enjoyable experience. Without the other wonderful factors of the game pushing you forward, this game would be sub-par at best. However, because this game offers up a plethora of enticing storytelling elements that push it arguably above other predecessors and other absolutely infatuating details, it is more than worthy of carrying the torch, remake or the likes of it not.… Expand
  24. weskergamer
    Jul 7, 2020
    8
    I really loved Alm and Celica relationship in this game, the story was really good and the music, the graphics and the gameplay. But i don't know why i felt so lost at the beginning of the game, maybe it was that it was different from the previous game, i don't know or it just was that i didn't pay much attention. But i really enjoyed it a lot
  25. Emiliano105
    Jun 20, 2020
    10
    It is a beautiful rwmake, one of my favorito videogames, have a grat story and grate caracteres, the soundtrack is perfect and the gameplay is good
  26. Sunshadow87
    Jun 5, 2020
    9
    Dentro de los FE de los últimos años, Shadows of Valentia, un Remake de la oveja negra de la saga, ha pasado bastante desapercibido para muchos. Y sin un motivo real. No es la oveja negra de la saga por ser un mal juego, si no por introducir mecánicas que no aparecen en ningún otro FE transformando la experiencia completamente.
    Lo primero es entender que este es un FE clásico sin    Dentro de los FE de los últimos años, Shadows of Valentia, un Remake de la oveja negra de la saga, ha pasado bastante desapercibido para muchos. Y sin un motivo real. No es la oveja negra de la saga por ser un mal juego, si no por introducir mecánicas que no aparecen en ningún otro FE transformando la experiencia completamente.
    Lo primero es entender que este es un FE clásico sin mecánicas de hijos (y por tanto sin personajes de relleno). Cada personaje esta bien desarrollado, él y sus relaciones. La dificultad es elevada, pero adaptable y accesible por las mecánicas exclusivas (y por la inclusión del sistema opcional de deshacer las últimas acciones, cuyo uso baja la dificultad a algo bastante medio).
    Incluye la novedad de llevar a dos personajes con sus propios ejércitos y batallas, que avanzan paralelamente hasta un momento común de unión. Esto implica también cierta variedad (por ejemplo, algunos personajes puedes reclutarlos con un ejercito u otro en diferentes momentos, pero obviamente si los reclutas con uno, no podrás con el otro).
    Aparte de esto, la gran novedad de este juego son las mazmorras. Y no hablo de mapas de estrategia, si no mazmorras en 3D con enemigos pululando, ítems, etc, añadiendo un sistema de exploración (similar a la base de FETH, pero en las mazmorras). El entrar en contacto con un enemigo despliega un pequeño mapa de batalla para combatir contra ellos, y cosas cómo atacar por la espalda genera ventajas en el despliegue de las unidades y turnos.
    Por toda esta innovación, los buenos personajes, la historia, este es un muy buen exponente de la saga, diferente del resto, pero muy buena entrega. Eso sí, sigue siendo un remake de un clásico, y hay algunas mecánicas que pueden ser algo repetitivas (farmeo de objetos para algunas quests).    … Expand
  27. ThePSButton
    Apr 8, 2020
    7
    Los calabozos son un concepto muy interesante, pero no se explota lo suficiente. En general es un Fire Emblem de buena calidad. Lo que más le duele es la ausencia del triángulo de armas.
  28. DigaHole
    Apr 6, 2020
    7
    Felt kinda boring in some parts, due to unnecessary spamming of some opponents, but in the end a pretty good title with loveable characters and the best soundtrack ever in the final boss battle. What a f****** anthem.
  29. frederik1478
    Mar 5, 2020
    9
    One of my favorite in series #best presentation of any Fire Emblem game and it is Unique Experience
  30. PlayorNaygames
    Jan 21, 2020
    6
    Don't go into Shadows of Valentia thinking you'll have a standard Fire Emblem experience. There's a lot of odd design choices, some good, some bad. Since this game is a remake, there's also some old-school rough edges that were not touched. Here are the differences:

    -No weapons triangle or durability. Money is used simply for upgrades to existing weapons. Your units can only hold 1 item    Don't go into Shadows of Valentia thinking you'll have a standard Fire Emblem experience. There's a lot of odd design choices, some good, some bad. Since this game is a remake, there's also some old-school rough edges that were not touched. Here are the differences:

    -No weapons triangle or durability. Money is used simply for upgrades to existing weapons. Your units can only hold 1 item and learn skills from that item. When you take off the item you lose access to the skill sadly. The game still has the FE problem of "arts" not being worth using most of the time. This time, Arts and magic cost health to use, so for physical arts especially, they aren't worth the hp cost and loss of a double attack most of the time. There's no UI to easily flip through your skills like in FE: 3 Houses either.
    -Very strange "required" skills to beat levels that the game doesn't tell you you need. There are some enemies that spawn 4-8 enemies every turn and there is a spell that will insta-kill 2-5 of them you can use every turn, for example. You will not know that the spell exists or when you'll get it, leading to frustration if you try to complete a map that requires it without it. There's several other instances of this as well.
    -3rd person dungeons for side quests and loot. I liked this, but there is too many generic battles and combat is too slow. Dungeons are relatively small and you have to revisit them as you get quests to go back.
    -2 different armies that you have to flip back and forth to. I didn't care for building up 2 different armies because you're basically doing the same thing over again. Double the grind for no reason other than to increase the play time they boast on the back of the box. You also have to use an annoying to find NPC to ship items back and forth between armies.
    -Tons of generic, repetitive unavoidable battles. As time passes on the world map, the enemy will send out troops to fight. Also, certain areas will have enemy armies respawn every time you pass by the area. This happens frequently and you'll be going back and forth a lot trying to find new NPCs in the same areas you have visited before.
    -Maps that are poorly designed. Lots of annoying mechanics that waste time and test your patience. From what I have read, they are copy/paste from the original game. I think they could of spent time redesigning the maps to be more interesting. For example, there are quite a few desert maps that will reduce movement significantly and you'll spend 4-5 turns just getting in position. Why? There are many maps that have choke points that highly favor the enemy. Since most of your units won't be 1 shoting enemies, there's a slog to get through the choke point while archers (which have crazy range in this, 5+ squares) rain down on you. It's simply not fun.

    That said, the story is standard JRPG anime fantasy. There is a lot of English Voice acting, which is nice, with a few recognizable voices you may have heard elsewhere. The visuals are better looking than FE Fates for the character models, but the environments, towns, NPCs, ect. are very generic and lack detail. There's a lot of repeated dialog in towns from your party members. Side quests are rudimentary, but quick normally. I find the rewards don't usually equate to the effort to complete some of them.

    Overall, FE: SoV is a good game, but not the one fans deserve. I would recommend this to extreme FE enthusiasts only.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

7
#7 Best 3DS Game of 2017
4
#4 Most Discussed 3DS Game of 2017
2
#2 Most Shared 3DS Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 76 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 76
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 76
  3. Negative: 0 out of 76
  1. Riot Pixels
    Aug 25, 2017
    76
    Even though Shadows of Valentia lacks some of the cool ideas from the previous installments in the Fire Emblem series, this tactics game is very addictive. It’s head and shoulders above the dull Fire Emblem: Fates.
    Read full review
  2. Nintendojo
    Aug 16, 2017
    91
    Fire Emblem has come to be one of Nintendo’s premier franchises, with Shadows of Valentia further cementing the series’ sterling reputation. This is some of the best storytelling and gameplay anyone could hope for on any platform, whether home or portable. Its presentation belies the fact that the game is running on a portable console, and the clever additions to the familiar Fire Emblem formula have yet again breathed new life into a series that has never been stagnant. There are other features waiting to be enjoyed, like the addition of Amiibo that bring new dungeons and fighters, a StreetPass feature, and more. It’s likely that other than Fire Emblem Warriors this will be the last time the franchise appears on 3DS, but it’s going to be a long goodbye—expect to sink many hours into this adventure. Alm and Celica have firmly cemented themselves into the ranks of my favorite Fire Emblem characters, and I hope that when the series transitions to Switch it will be half as entertaining as Shadows of Valentia.
    Read full review
  3. NZGamer
    Jul 14, 2017
    90
    Fire Emblem Echoes is the second best entry in the new generation of Fire Emblem games, ranking lower than Awakening, but higher than Fates. Tight storytelling, paired with challenging gameplay, makes for a thoroughly enjoyable experience, as accessible to new players as it is inviting to old. Watch out for tantalising-but-expensive DLC, and a bit of a nerf on older consoles. It’ll be hard for the next Fire Emblem to step out from under the Shadows of Valentia.
    Read full review
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