Fire Emblem Heroes

If you’re a Fire Emblem fan, seeing those familiar faces intermingle across different eras and stories is kinda cool from a gameplay perspective. If you’ve never played Fire Emblem before, this might be the one of the kindest introductions into the series.

Do not worry of F2P model and micro-transactions. Yes, they are here, and after some time they start to bite, but you can play Fire Emblem Heroes very well without paying. It is a surprisingly complex mix of turn-based strategy and RPG and decent mobile spin-off, for the main series doesn´t need to be ashamed of. Quite the contrary! Nintendo shows everyone how to convert the favorite brand to mobile phones, they don´t upset their existing fans, and even get new ones. Bravo.

With a winning combo of exciting, familiar gameplay and diverse content, Fire Emblem Heroes manages to do what none of its predecessors have succeeded at: It gets me invested in mobile gaming, to the point where I'm almost willing to indulge in the platform's most insidious capitalist tricks. Almost.

This is not the Fire Emblem you know, though the strategic fights, characters and bizarre music are still there. This is a game that seems simpler, but will make it for the long haul.

Fire Emblem Heroes is - as promised - a small game that is supposed to invite you to try the big, full version. After many hours of fun I can say that it worked! I'd like some more Emblem, please. This kind of approach to mobile gaming is worth replicating.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a streamlined experience that is made for mobile and it doesn't shy away from that fact. It’s the closest thing Fire Emblem has to a bite-sized experience. Don't expect a lot of depth or difficulty from Heroes, but they did make some fine compromises. It helps that it plays wonderfully on a smart device and that the amount of content here is impressive. With 45 main missions (and counting) and a host of other features, they want to continue welcoming people with open arms. The story is really the biggest bummer of the experience. It was a neat idea to bring the Fire Emblem worlds together, but they never really embrace it. That is strange, considering they gave all the characters voices and unique art. The characters still drive forward what this is free-to-play mobile game is all about, and that is gameplay.

A successful free-to-play game that manages to retain almost everything that made this franchise relevant. The issue is that: almost did it.

This is Nintendo’s best mobile effort yet.

What I do know is that right now, whenever I have a moment, I’m playing this game and I’m enjoying it immensely. Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, and DeNA have succeeded on two fronts here: not only have they crafted a mobile game that is fine in its own right, but they’ve also made one that absolutely makes me want to play the next proper entry in the Fire Emblem franchise.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a very nice turn based strategy game for mobile users.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a great game that succeeds in retaining the core essence of the franchise. It offers a fantastic yet simple gameplay that is easy to understand and mechanics and modes that will maintain entertained even the most hardcore fans from the series. The sad part of it is that it limits its experience with a questionable business model that, sooner or later, ends up pressing the player into buying items and things with high prices. If you can tolerate that, then you will find in FEH an enjoyable title.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a surprisingly fun and fair entry in the series well worth a look.

Sure, it's not the Fire Emblem that we are used to playing on DS and 3DS, but you don’t have to underestimate this mobile version. You'd miss a very nice turn based strategy game.

It keeps the good Fire Emblem essence while successfully becoming a free to play game. It might not be a revolutionary or flashy game, but it sure is a solid one.

Fire Emblem Heroes succeeds by relying on tried and tested formulas, but it's held back by the money-hungry nature of its underlying mechanics.

Quotation forthcoming.

All of this is well and good. It’s what I’d expect of a Fire Emblem game on any platform, mobile or otherwise. And it’s plenty to keep me playing. For now. But my concern, as already mentioned, is what happens once I start to encounter anything that feels like a payment barrier. And I can see them coming.

A free-to-play game ideal for quick matches. The simplified gameplay makes it even more accessible for new fans to try and get into the series.

Fire Emblem Heroes is simplified, but certainly a good start when it comes to bringing the series beloved combat to phones and tablets. The flimsy story doesn’t bring any new ideas to the table and the blind-item system can get frustrating when it refuses to give you a competent hero, but the fantastically fun battles and ability to reunite with old Fire Emblem friends from anywhere makes it worth the free download.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a flawed but enjoyable way to pass the time for fans as well as a solid starting point for anyone who’s been curious about the series but hasn’t dived in yet.

While the battles are small and the story is weak, Fire Emblem Heroes does a good job of bringing the series’ classic gameplay to the masses on mobile for quick, enjoyable bursts on the move.

The great controls and superb illustrations of the characters, as well as good sound don't make it up for the dull plot and repetitive gameplay. It's a good way to get in contact with the world of Fire Emblem, but will leave players wanting the real thing instead of this watered down version.

If you're expecting to find a proper Fire Emblem you're going to be disappointed, but if you think of this as a free-to-play spin-off, it deserves a try.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a slick, well-presented and fun 'lite' take on the series. It's heavily stripped down from the core games, and is best enjoyed in short bursts, but serves that purpose well while wrapping the experience in a stylish UI with handsome graphics and a typically lustrous soundtrack. Nevertheless it's a limited game, and after a generous opening of playing for free the 'pay-to-win' element starts to take over. It's here that many will likely shrug and move on, having had a decent fill for no investment - for completionists, however, there's plenty of grinding (and likely some expenditure) awaiting them on the journey.

Free-to-player Fire Emblem is pretty much exactly what you’d expect, but it’s an entertaining introduction to the real thing.

It might not be the Fire Emblem game you wanted on mobile, but it's the one that we've got, and it's pretty solid.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a mediocre gotcha game that adds nothing really to the genre, except a solid amount of themed fan service. Intelligent Systems managed to squeeze the original strategy features into small and fast paced stages but the more you keep playing, the more you realize it's all about luck.

Beautifully made but empty. Compulsive but exploitative, F2P time-and money-sink first, Fire Emblem last. [March 2017, p.66]

Solid beginner game, but perhaps too casual. [Issue#105, p.85]

Nintendo continue to take another safe step in their mobile gaming journey. Fire Emblem Heroes is enjoyable, but largely forgettable.

Don't let the Gacha getcha! [Issue #26 – March/April 2017, p.17]

We were really hoping for something amazing with Fire Emblem Heroes and, at first, we believed it was going to deliver a great Fire Emblem experience. Sadly, the more you dive in it, the more you understand that it is a classic gacha game without any deep gameplay mechanic. Furthermore, it costs so much in-game currency and REAL money to grow a strong team that you will have to stop playing because you have anymore money on your bank account anyway.

When the incentive to keep playing is to be able to keep playing, it’s easy to burn out on Fire Emblem Heroes. Aside from obtaining your favorite characters--if you even care about that--Fire Emblem Heroes becomes less and less rewarding as time goes on. Grinding for loot in the form of characters can only be fun for so long before chasing rare allies becomes a chore, and in that sense it caters to two ends of a wide spectrum while offering little incentive for anyone in between.

Fire Emblem Heroes reminded me that the Japanese do not consider smartphones and tablets worthy of real games and treat them as a way to encourage you to buy full-fledged releases for 3DS or Switch. [04/2017, p.75]