Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia 3DS Review

History of Fire Emblem series:


Fire Emblem is one of the Nintendo franchise created by Shouzou Kaga. It is a fantasy Tactical RPG series that was first originated in early 90's making it a Japanese-only franchise that never got it first release at worldwide until when GBA title finally made a first debut in early 2000's.
Intelligent Systems had produced many of the series's main games and spin-offs such as 90's very first game called Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light for NES which had received mixed reception from the critics, but also gaining fanbases that made the game popular for crediting with popularising the genre in general.

It was later spawning many sequels and remakes of main games which had gained so much better reception such as Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem for SNES is one of the sequel had also included the remake of the original NES had gained the improvement over the original NES title, while later two sequel for Japanese releases are also gained positive for its storylines, difficulty and gameplay design.

The Binding Blade for GBA was released in early 2000's which is the last game being exclusive in Japan making other later two games a first worldwide debut such as Fire Emblem for GBA which had becoming commercially success overseas and gained highly acclaimed by critics and fans labelling the game as being one of the best in the series had establishing the Fire Emblem series in the Western territory, while the last GBA title The Sacred Stones are also well received at the release which leads Intelligent System to release many of later games such as Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses, while sharing with spin-offs such as Heroes, Warriors, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

The series had been starting out quite positive at western debut in 2000's thanks to Nintendo's fighting game title Super Smash Bros Melee for Gamecube which had included two fighting rosters from Fire Emblem series such as Marth and Roy were being first introduced in western releases.

So these are the small history of how the Fire Emblem series had first started in Japan, but now becoming a worldwide success had gained popularity which had later influenced developer's own Tactical RPGs series such as NCS/Masaya's Langrisser, Quest's Tactics Ogre, Nippon Chi's Disgaea, Square Enix's Final Fantasy Tactics, and SEGA's two series such as Shining Force and Valkyria Chronicles had shared the similar formula as the Nintendo's Tactical RPGs series was being known for popularising the genres.

Okay then, moving on to the review now.



Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia 3DS Review:


Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a Tactical RPGs game only for 3DS, which was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is a full remake of 1992's NES title called Fire Emblem Gaiden which added the elements in the game such as rebuilding the storylines and expanding core gameplay mechanics based on recent 3DS games like Awakening while adding dungeon crawler aspects in game.

It's been for 10 years since I've played Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn on Wii which is the game that I've really enjoyed playing it, so it took me awhile to get a hands on with the later Nintendo consoles until I finally got my 3DS last year, so I can now able to go and pick up another Fire Emblem title that I wanted to play on my 3DS, so that is this game that I'm gonna review now because I've been played the game for over two weeks with such lengthy campaign and more storylines which is the reason why I've liked the game.
It has spectacular use of presentation including both FMV cutscenes and visual novel that brings the positively on story development, the graphics is definitely the best looking game I've seen on the 3DS system, the orchestrated soundtrack has epic rendition of the original NES title including some new track, and the battle gameplay system is surprisingly well made with the great use of strategy that made the game so much better than what I've expected from the talented developers that nails the remake so nicely in comparison with Fire Emblem Gaiden for NES.

So without go further do, let's start the review.



Presentation


The main story in the game was based on original 1992's NES title Fire Emblem Gaiden. The backstory in the game explains the war conflict between the siblings gods Earth Mother Mila and the War Father Duma who split up and formed rival nations such as Mila's Kingdom of Zofia and Duma's Empire of Rigel.
While the story stills continue on, it focuses on the village boy named Alm who are now part of the deliverance team, along with his friends, had set his quest to overthrow Rigel's military leader Chancellor Desaix and drive Rigel's ruler Emperor Rudolf out of the Zofia.
Then you will have Zofian's priestess named Celica, along with her team, had a quest to reunite her childhood friend Alm after experiencing her nightmare, as well as reaching to Mila's Temple to see goddess Mila for seeking help and support of Zofia.

The story in the game is quite well done for its necessary backstory that involves the two rivalry between the Zofia and Rigel which is the reason why it explains how the land had been split in two continents that caused the war between two.
You have Zofian's goddess Mila wanted to protect her land from the evil imperial army who are aiming to conquer the land of Zofia which really shows how corrupted and vile the Duma is what really adds up the story development in the game.

The two major character in the game are also just good as the other protagonist from any of Fire Emblem game.
I find Alm is quite an interesting character with lot of bravery and heroic personality had a potential to become a leader of deliverance, while Celica are much more heartwarming and passionate girl who wanted to bring peace in the land of Valentia which is the reason why these characters in the game are quite memorable.
Then you will have a great cast of supportive characters in the game, so it has Tobin, Kliff, Gray, and Faye who are a great friends of Alm, while Celica had her partners such as Mae, Boey, and Genny. It also shares with the recruitment members that joins the forces with the Zofian's team such as hard-hitting veteran Saber, big-armoured Valbar, the mercenary dude Kamui, the handsome Clive, the noble Lukas, and etc.
The villain in the game such as Emperor Rudolf which I described him as not as evil you may think, so unlike the others such as Desaix and Slayde which has way more ruthless personality than the Emperor itself.
Then you have Berkut, Jedah and Duma which in my opinion are the best of all villain that really nails it well in the game. These are the tough mother f****er that you don't want to mess with them which is the reason why they are so deadly and vicious in the game.

Along with the fantastic storyline and interesting characters, the whole presentation in the game is looking spectacular for its 3DS standards thanks to full animated sequences throughout the game really shows how amazing the cutscenes looked on the Nintendo's handheld system which I am impressed that the developers can managed to fit all in the limited size cartridge filled with amazing anime drawn characters and fully voiced dialogue for its story design. I also liked the conversation between the characters on the visual novels aspects during the battles and memory prisms which is also done pretty good that really adds up more extra plot in whole game.
I really liked the design of the scenery that taking place in different locations, so you have quiet village homes, rich looking Zofian's castle, the gloomy swamp places, the spirited Mila shrine, the gritty graveyard, the huge forrest, the sandy desert, and huge cave dungeons which I think it did a remarkable job for its concepts choices to make the locations look attractive in the game.


Overall, it has fantastic story, interesting characters, and spectacular animated sequences.



Gameplay


The game has main 5 acts in single player campaign, while others is just the post-game bonus act which did not appear in Fire Emblem Gaiden.

You get to play as Alm or Celica had their quest to defeat the Rigel army to save Zofia depending on which acts you're playing on. It has overworld map where you can navigate both major character to move and locate, while battling against the enemies nearby which can be located inside the map, so your main goal is to beat the main objectives on each acts.
The game has three different mechanics such as turn-based core battle, point and click style, and dungeon crawler.

On the turn-based core battle where you and your team batting out against the enemies in tactical battlefield.
You will have an option to add and select any team units, organising weapons and items, and viewing the map before you are fully prepared for the next battle. 
You will have each classes of units which has different weapons and abilities such as sword fighter, knight, archer, mage, priestess, cavalier and etc.
The sword fighter are basically uses the sword, the heavy duty knight that carries lancer uses the heavy damage on enemies, the archer can shoot arrows in far distance, mage uses the black magic power, the priestess heals the ally, and the cavalier and pegasus knight rides their horse in the far distance.
You control them by navigating each units which highlights the blue squared grids which allowing your character to move around the battlefield on the selectable blue squares, while the red squared grids labels act as the attacking point where you can able to attack your enemy nearby depending on how strong your character's stats are worked effectively against them.
For example: one of the player's unit has higher attack points than the enemy's unit are more chances to finish them off quickly, while one of the enemy's unit may have better defense which preventing one of the player's unit from attacking them.
You can also take a look of your character's stats at bottom of the screen to check their attack, skill, speed, defense, and others just to make sure that your units are being good enough to fight against the enemy.
Be sure you have to use your strategy to figure it out the enemy's attack pattern in which you can highlight them to see their red grids on the battlefield which shows that they can attack you on close or far range distance. 
Defeating most enemies will gain your experience points which rewards you with levelling up your character's stats. It improves your fighting performance as well as being able to change classes if the class level had met the requirements, so this will evolve your current unit into a much more powerful classes.
For example: the fighter becomes hero class, the knight becomes baron class, and the archer becomes sniper class which will allowing their fighting performance worked effectively against the stronger enemy with higher rate level gives you benefit to fight them easily.
Depending on which difficulty settings you're playing on, the casual mode are much suitable to those who are new to series or someone prefers the mode in general which you can still retain all your team units back in action in every battle, while the classic mode are much more punishable where you can't retain all your units back after the amount of permanent deaths in every battle, but also quite a challengable once you get used with the game's difficulty.

Secondly you will have the point and click mechanics which can be featured on smaller locations where you can able to talk people in the town, examine the whole area for items and weapons, and move to different area to explore. 
You can also meet the blacksmiths which gives you an option to create or improve your certain of weapon you're using which requires sliver or gold coins to purchase, but you can also trade items that you no longer need it which give you enough coins to able to afford the stuff you wanted to upgrade.
Lastly you will enter the dungeon crawler area which was played on third-person perspective where you need to locate and explore the hidden secrets in which you will need to collect many of coins, items and opening up treasure chest for weapon and armours, while you are being encountered by the enemy somewhere in the cave which forces you to fight against them until its perfectly cleared, so you can still able to continue on exploring the whole area.

So far, I find the whole game is quite outstanding which is lot different from any Fire Emblem games.
The idea of overworld map is quite interesting where you can visit any places to talk people for info, examining areas in point and click style, releasing the innocent prisoner from jail cell, asking the fighter to join your forces, and meeting up the blacksmith to upgrade your weapons which I really liked the part that was included in the game.
I got to say the dungeon crawling aspects on some locations are actually pretty fun to explore where I can find any of treasure items, going to different route that leads me to secret areas, and of course fighting with the random bad guys which gives me confidence to improve the team's fighting experience the more it becomes better.
The core battle gameplay is just like what you expecting from Fire Emblem series. The grid system on battlefield is much easier to navigate where you can able to move and attack the enemy's unit, while highlighting the enemy's unit shows their attacking patterns which really helps your strategy to avoid getting contact by enemy's projectiles, even comparing your player's stats with the enemy's stats that shows on top of the screen will help you figure it out to know if yours are good enough to defeat them.
Each of the class units are pretty done fabulous when it's comes with stuff like archer that shoots far distance, the heavy duty baron are slow, but has better defense and powerful attacks works effectively against the enemy's sword fighters or knights, the mage has weaker health, but has more resistance and strong magic attacks, the sword fighters has better use of speed and skills, the cavalier and pegasus knights has more movements, and the priestess has better use of healing powers is the reason it balances the class units very well in the game.
I got to say the enemy's class units are lot different from the player's class units because they have brigand that weld axe, the cantor that respawns monsters like gargoyles and zombies, the witch has higher damaging magic attacks, the fiend is just as powerful as the player's baron with deadly attacking system, and the necrodragon are sure one tough monster that takes awhile to beat which really increases the game's overall difficulty that made the game quite tough, but satisfying at the same time.


Overall, it has excellent core battle, cool dungeons crawling areas, well balanced class system, and satisfying difficulty.



Graphics


The graphics in the game is clearly the best of all 3DS titles. Like I've mention the animated cutscenes that looked fantastic with the use of hand-drawn anime design, it is also looked pretty good on the visual novel presentation with less roughness on character's design and environmental scenery which they did a great job of polishing the whole game.
The graphics design on battlefield is looked incredible when using the 3DS's effects that made the whole environmental levels looked like a pre-rendered 3D built which really shows that the game isn't about using heavy 3D, it's about making the game design much easier to see things during the battle, so it has well built castles, houses, gates, bridges, pavements, and caves that is good enough for the game itself.
The character sprites on the battlefield is quite simplistic on the command unit, while during the animated fight sequences between the player and enemy are fully 3D which I think it did a amazing job that the game ran really well on the Nintendo's handheld system without noticing any of frame-rate issues, so this is why the whole game looked so incredible that never looked disappointed at all.


Overall, it has incredible game's design, impressive character's design, and solid overall environments.



Music and Sounds


I got to admit the game definitely has the best original soundtrack of whole series. It is a great rendition to 1992's original NES title with fully remade orchestrated music that made it sounds really epic on both overworld map and battle sequences. The game also included several of new soundtrack that aren't present on the NES version are actually heartwarming and heroic that really fits well for several of cutscenes which is the reason why I considered it as masterpiece.
I also liked the use of sound effects for its background noises and atmospheric effects which I really like hearing the sounds of waterfall, erupting volcanoes, and sword-swinging on my 3DS stereo speaker and the voice acting did a pretty stunning job on cast of characters which really adds the overall personality that shows much of the emotions and some time humour, so yeah I've liked it so far.


Overall, it has masterpiece soundtrack, atmospheric sounds, and stunning voice work.



Special Features


The game did have all of DLCs content which included 5 individual series made available in a overworld's option menu, so each of the series are entirely different from the original game itself which really helps expanding the game's length, but unfortunately the full season pass are quite expensive which cost you £40 to obtain all completed DLCs which is ridiculously pricey, but only if you are so keen to have all completed DLCs content.
It's a shame that it didn't include the multiplayer features like from Fire Emblem Awakening and Fates would have been nice if they included in the game.

Overall, the lack of multiplayer and pricey season pass did not help at all, but I did heard many positive things about the rest of DLCs series that keeps everyone busy with the game, so it's still a solid packaging.




Advantages


Fantastic storylines

Spectacular animated sequences

Excellent core battle

Cool dungeon crawling                                                         
                       
Well balanced class system

Satisfying difficulty

Incredible graphics

Masterpiece soundtrack

Extra DLCs



Disadvantages


Pricey season pass

Lack of multiplayer features       




Final Verdict


Presentation 9/10 - fantastic story, interesting characters, and spectacular animated sequences.

Gameplay 9/10 - excellent core battle, cool dungeons crawling areas, well balanced class system, and satisfying difficulty.

Graphics 9/10 - incredible game's design, impressive character's design, and solid overall environments.

Music and Sounds 9.5/10 - masterpiece soundtrack, atmospheric sounds, and stunning voice work.

Special Features 7/10 - lack of multiplayer and pricey season pass, but still a solid overall packaging.


Overall 9/10 - After 10 years of my wait, I am very glad that I had a 3DS which is the reason why I finally got a another Fire Emblem game that I can enjoy playing it on the handheld system.
So far, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is clearly being a best remakes in the series that finally did resolve the issues was present in Fire Emblem Gaiden for NES, so I am happy that it made the biggest improvement over the original NES featuring more story development filed with fantastic story and characters, introducing dungeon crawling mechanics to explore, and the overall battle gameplay did keep a satisfaction to the fans of the series will able to enjoy their Fire Emblem experience on this magnificent title on 3DS which offers many of joyful and teary moments that makes your heart feels very emotional is the reason why I loved this game so much.

I still liked the Radiant Dawn on Wii which is very good Tactical RPGs title, but this game on the 3DS is clearly my new favourite in the series that is definitely must buy for hardcore fans of the genres, so to keep you mind that the game won't be as cheaper from online store which cost around over £20 to £30, but I was lucky I got it for £14 instead.



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