Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Genre: Strategy-RPG

Players: 1, StreetPass Support

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Review:

Fire Emblem Echoes, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2017, is the final mainline Fire Emblem game to release on Nintendo 3DS. After Fire Emblem Awakening revitalized the series and Fire Emblem Fates evolved the series even further, Echoes both brings the series forwards in some ways and back in others. This is in part because Fire Emblem Echoes is a remake of the second game in the Fire Emblem series, the Japan-only game Fire Emblem Gaiden, originally released on the Japanese-only Famicom console in 1992.

No doubt in part because of this, Fire Emblem Echoes has simplified combat when compared to more modern titles. Units can no longer be paired together for offensive or defensive bonuses, units only carry one weapon with no need to worry about weapon durability, there’s no “weapon triangle”, and the “relationship” system is far more simplified, making battle strategy in many cases far more simplistic. However, there are other areas where this game modernizes the franchise even beyond what Awakening and Fates had to offer.

Like Awakening and Fates, Fire Emblem Echoes makes the series’ signature “permadeath” entirely optional. However, Echoes goes a step farther in modernizing the series by having areas where players freely move their 3D character around dungeons, encountering enemies more like a traditional RPG, with those encounters starting a Strategy-RPG battle more typical of the series. Players can opt to revisit these areas to grind for experience and resources, but even if they opt not to do so they make for a refreshing change of pace in the game.

With actual character-driven exploration being an element of the series now, it bears mention that Fire Emblem Echoes has an excellent presentation, with detailed, well-animated characters and backgrounds, a wonderful orchestral soundtrack, and some absolutely wonderful voice acting, really bringing to life the game’s great characters.

In the end, not everyone is going to enjoy Fire Emblem Echoes as much as other games in the series due to its more simple strategy thanks to it being a remake of an older game. However, while perhaps not as complex, I believe this game to still be a stellar entry in the series that finds new and interesting ways to branch out within the Fire Emblem franchise, despite it technically being something of a throwback. If you’re a fan of Strategy-RPGs, I would argue that this game is just as deserving of a look as its more complex siblings on the Nintendo 3DS.

tl;dr – Fire Emblem Echoes is a remake of the previously Japan-only Fire Emblem Gaiden, and as a result it is both quaint and simple as well as modern and inventive, taking the Strategy-RPG gameplay of the series, removing some of its complexity, and adding in character-driven dungeon areas. The result is still an excellent albeit simpler Strategy-RPG, and one with enough differences to make it stand out next to the other games in the franchise. In any case, fans of the genre should definitely give this game a look.

Grade: A-

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