Fire Emblem Awakening

So just a few days ago I finally beat Fire Emblem Awakening  with 50 hours put into the Nintendo 3D DS game.  The game has 26 chapters and is not long but with all the optional content put into the game, I played this game a lot longer than I expected.

The story follows the trials of Prince Chrom and his group, The Shepherds  as they try to keep peace in his country Ylisse from the neighboring country Plegia.  Along the way, the Prince encounters an evil force called the Risen (think zombies minus the decaying flesh), a masked man going by the name of the legendary Hero King Marth, and a mysterious character sleeping in the middle of the field (the player’s avatar).

Now keep in mind, the Fire Emblem games I have played are Path of Radiance and Sword of Seals.

Positives

• World Map
• DLC Maps
• DLC characters of past Fire Emblem characters are available to fight and recruit.
• Permanent death can be turned off for those that hate having their characters die permanently.
• Pairing up in battle and having two characters fight along side each other and the possibility of protecting each other from receiving any damage made game play really enjoyable.

Support conversations are more worthwhile with characters of the opposite gender being able to have children after getting a S rank.  There is another chapter which opens after the S rank support conversation finishes and a new character (the child) is available to recruit.  I played for hours getting my characters to have kids since the children are a lot stronger than the first generation of characters.

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this game.  The story, although not the greatest and predictable at times, was enjoyable and different for a Fire Emblem game.  Apparently ideas I thought were new to Fire Emblem, like an avatar and world map, have been used in previous Fire Emblem games (like the technician from Blazing Sword).  The game does do a good job of keeping all these elements together and not feeling tacked on. I am glad that this was my first game on the Nintendo 3D DS and I hope there will be more Fire Emblem sequels on the hand held.  This April maps for recruiting a former enemy, fighting tougher opponents, and more side stories will be released via Spot Pass..  I can’t wait.