One genre of video games that I have a real hit-or-miss relationship with is the SRPG (strategic role playing game); especially the JSPRG (Japanese... etc. etc.). I remember reading all the blurb about the
Disgaea series, and getting really hyped for the third entry on PS3, thinking "this really sounds right up my street" - only to be crushingly disappointed. Still, I gave it a chance, and put over twelve hours of game time into
Disgaea 3 before deciding that it just wasn't my thing. This was a main-entry in a series that supposedly encapsulates and defines the genre, but it was in another that I first got my taste of the ludicrous addictive and deep rewarding gameplay that SRPGs are renowned for:
Valkyria Chronicles. I'm planning to write more about that game in a future blog post, but sufficed to say that
Valkyria Chronicles is an amazing game, one of the very best for PS3, and a shining example of how SRPGs can have a finely-woven engaging story, fantastic characters, and beautiful graphics while still retaining the core tactical depth of gameplay. That game also had another element that clearly defined it, and it wouldn't be until
Fire Emblem Awakening that I'd find another game which was it's equal in all things, especially this thing...
permadeath.
Fire Emblem is a series that has built a reputation for being challenging and fairly unforgiving, and this is mainly because of its infamous use of 'permadeath' - which basically means that main characters can die during the course of the game, through your own actions, and once dead they are permanently gone. Of course this has been done in other games, but has a massive impact here because of the way
Fire Emblem Awakening works. You see, each unit you order about the battlefield and fight with is not a generic soldier or copy of another character; each member of your elite fighting force is a unique person, with their own distinct appearance, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly personality, relationships and plot. As they fight side-by-side against bitter odds, they form bonds with one-another, which manifests itself in branching dialogue, plot lines and even the ability to fall in love. Not only this but your're also constantly tweaking characters abilities, class and equipment load out until you can list off a load of names for any given situation; including who those characters work well with, what they're good at, their hobbies and even their birthdays! Then, during a particularly grizzly battle, you'll overlook an enemy strategy and an arrow will strike of of your favourite characters in the face... and kill them. FOR EVER.
Having those characters, which you've invested so many hours and emotions into, suddenly die is just gut-wrenching, and the common reactions is to hit the reset button and try again. This is really where I think the challenge comes from, as the game isn't too difficult if you're prepared to lose some characters along the way (there's a "casual" mode to facilitate this if you're so inclined), but you really won't want that - it was a very serious decision for me to let a few characters die through the course of my playthrough, and afterwards I'd feel guilty and anxious if it was the right thing to do. Keeping your characters alive, and building those relationships between them, is also the key to unlocking all the side missions in the game, which again makes their deaths even more poignant. Even now, despite the fact that the only characters who died were ones I hardly ever used and found difficult to master, I think about all the content and storyline that I might have missed out on.
The core gameplay of Fire Emblem Awakening, like most SRPGs, is found on the many battlefields and through the combat system, which makes fantastic use of the 3DS hardware. You have all the information you need on the bottom touch-screen, available at a moments glance, leaving the top 3D screen to control unit placement and display the awesome battle animations. The controls are extremely intuitive, and the game does a fantastic job introducing key concepts through a few tutorial levels at a fairly brisk pace; it isn't long before you start to feel comfortable commanding your troops with conviction. Unit placement and interaction is key to unlocking their true potential, and keeping them alive, which is facilitated through various options of pairing them up and seeing their movement/attack ranges ahead of time. This extends to the enemies that you face, with the game letting you keep track of danger zones, and enemy equipment/level/etc. easily - meaning that any mistakes made, which subsequently get characters killed, are usually your own fault. Couple this with easy (and fast) saving and loading of games, including the ability to bookmark and leave a battle on top of the 3DS's suspend feature, and you never feel like you have anything but complete control over events.
As you can see from the screenshots so far in this review, the presentation of Fire Emblem Awakening is superb; especially for the 3DS, where it is one of the best looking games on the system. The game actually uses a variety of different visual styles and graphic engines to drive the different elements, but it is also a great example of how fantastic art direction can really make a cohesive whole and pull everything together. There are fully animated cut-scenes that enhance the storytelling of the game, which are presented in a very high quality 3D cell-shaded anime style. For the dialogue and support conversations between the characters there are finely drawn vignettes and subtle animations of facial expressions. The main bulk of the cutscenes share the same graphical engine as the fight animations - detailed character models move about in full 3D environments replete with flashy special effects and animations. Lastly, for the strategic gameplay itself, there is a top-down perspective, which uses finely detailed 2D sprites on a 3D background. Truth-be-told, the screenshots in the blog (or anywhere on the internet) don't do the game justice. Rendered on the 3DS screen in native resolution and with the 3D slider all the way up these graphics look amazing and the depth gained by the 3D is well worth straining your eyes a little for.
I mentioned
Valkyria Chronicles in the intro, and one of the defining features of that game was the engrossing story. For an SRPG to have that deep a yarn, and inspire those sorts of emotions while playing is very rare indeed. Well,
Fire Emblem Awakening can hold its head high and is once again a diamond in the rough. The story involves plots to resurrect a giant gribbly soul-eating Dragon, time travelling children bent on changing the future, characters with amnesia trying to discover who they are and what their connection is to the unfolding events, and vast warring nation-states struggling for dominance in a rich fantasy world. While some of the story bears might seem a little out-there initially, they're all brought together in the end and the game is extremely engrossing from start to finish. Presentation of this is all top-notch too, with a fantastic orchestral soundtrack as well as excellent (if limited) voice acting; it even gives you the option of using the original Japanese voice actors - which normally I'd snap up, but the localisation is superb and I played the entire game with English voice actors.
Before I wrap up this review I think I need to briefly mention some other features, which only add to the crack-like addictiveness of this game.
Fire Emblem Awakening makes good use of the 3DS's "Spot Pass" feature, allowing you to access and download all manner of goodies completely separate (and available free-of-charge) from DLC, which is also purchasable from the 'outworld gate' in-game. Spot Pass lets you download new maps and missions to play on, to bring challengers into your world and either recruit, fight or parley with them, as well as letting you access a bonus box of extra weapons and rare items. Even if you never touch any online features, the game randomly spawns merchants with rare artifacts and equipment on sale, as well as random challenges across the world map for you to grind your characters on and level them up outside of the main storyline.
Fire Emblem Awakening is an utterly fantastic game, perfectly designed for the hardware it runs on, and containing hours of engrossing content and challenge. It's a game that everyone with a 3DS should play; just leave 'permadeath' turned on if you do!
