Fire Emblem: Awakening satisfied my tactical RPG itch. Since Shin Megumi Tensei is planning a crossover with Fire Emblem, I decided to give the Fire Emblem franchise a try. Since Shin Megumi I never played a single Fire Emblem game before and the last tactical RPG I played was Pokemon Conquest which I found AWFUL. I never played a single Fire Emblem game before and the last tactical RPG I played was Pokemon Conquest which I found AWFUL. If you have access to a 3DS, don’t deny yourself this truly special and incredible experience.
And it didn’t achieve this by sacrificing its identity either, but rather by refining the franchise’s already solid foundation so that its accessibility and caliber should easily qualify it as a quintessential portable experience, right up there with the likes of Super Mario 3D Land or Pokemon Black and White 2. This isn’t just a Fire Emblem game, this is where Fire Emblem finally awakens from its deep slumber as a cult favorite and steps up as one of the Big N’s big franchises, no longer shackled by its niche origins. In this way, Awakening exceeds all prior installments for a game that is at once a Fire Emblem lover's dream come true and a brilliant entry point to both the franchise and the genre. While many of these concepts aren’t new to the Fire Emblem series, never before have they been presented in such a refined and easily accessible package. That’s rare for a videogame, where death is often a temporary and inconsequential occurrence.
I found myself going to great lengths to keep all members of my team alive - not due to the compulsive need to collect all the warriors, but because I truly cared about these people. The desire to protect them and progress their individual story arcs drives home the weight of your decisions, and makes you feel more involved and invested than most games ever come close to. The strong tactical gameplay and strikingly diverse visuals are only part of the equation - the strength of the game comes from the strength of the characters. Fire Emblem Awakening is the most fluid and stunning strategy RPG experience available on a portable, and features the best storytelling and Fire Emblem Awakening is the most fluid and stunning strategy RPG experience available on a portable, and features the best storytelling and production value of any 3DS game to date.