19.9.2016

This review is based on the copy of Birthright that comes with the Limited Edition. While this version does not deviate from the standard standalone version it should be noted that I will be comparing Birthright to its counterparts here in this review and played it after I played Conquest.As with most of my reviews I like to structure them by splitting things up from worst to best, and I am not going to change that structure here. So first of all, what is Fire Emblem? In a nutshell, Fire Emblem is a mix of a strategy game (turn based) and a role playing game (SRPG). These games are usually set in some mythical fantasy world that is more or less set in medieval times, theres magic,monsters and basically everything else to fit the fantasy setting. In most of these games you control one nations prince (or in very few cases princess) and are put in a "light vs dark" type of setting where you need to restore the world by saving it from evil, darkness and whatever else the developers have come up with. Most Fire Emblem games have never really focused much on story, yet it is still a big disappointment that this games story is one of its weakest aspects.Story---------The games story starts out very promising and sets a grand stage for the events to unfold. You are a prince/princess of Nohr (called Corrin on default settings), you live isolated in a castle far away from the daily lives of general Nohrians. You are frequently visited by your siblings who are all very friendly to you. Your father, King Garon of Nohr, is the exact opposite however. He is cold and, to put it bluntly, simply evil. He frequently kills people just for the heck of it and is presented, right off the bat, as a tyrant. Anyhow, soon, you set off on a mission for him and after some strange twists which involve one of your fathers retainers deciding to murder your servant/bodyguard, you get captured by members of the Hoshidan Kingdom. Long story short, you quickly find out that you are not really a Nohrian, instead you are a member of the Hoshido royal family and you were kidnapped by Garon when you were just a baby. After a couple of heartfelt moments, where you meet your mother and are subsequently involved in a terrorist attack seemingly orchestrated by Nohr thanks to which your mother dies, a grand war starts to form.And here we are at the pivotal point in the games story. Both your adoptive and your blood family arrive on the battlefield and you must decide. Do I side with the family that has nurtured and cared for me ever since I was a baby (and aside from Garon, truly loves you)? Or do I side with the family I was torn from, my real siblings? Can I side with a nation ruled by a tyrant who arguably used me as a pawn to murder my own mother? And what about Hoshido? They are just a bunch of...uh...well...they are really nice...and nurturing...and just overall really pleasant. If you buy Birthright, youve made the preemptive decision to side with Hoshido and if you would like to side with Nohr then you would have to buy it form the eshop for another 20€. But see herein, within this chapter, lies the one of the greatest issues plaguing this games story: there really is nothing making you chose Nohr. The game gives you an odd 5 chapters (1-2 hours at most) to make the decision. Within this time it gives you no real opportunity to establish any potential dark side of Hoshido. Nope, instead youre presented with two routes: be a good guy and join your blood relatives and join the non terrorist side, or chose to serve under a mad king who is so obviously evil its cringeworthy only to stay a little while longer with your adoptive family and lead a war against people who are just good people (and your blood family).So what happens after you make the decision? Well, youre leading a war against Nohr and I dont want to spoil the rest (the previous part wasnt a spoiler) of the game. However, as much moral conflict as the game tries to stir up at the beginning, the rest of the games story falls incredibly flat simply because of how naive the main character is, how everyone trusts him so quickly AND how he gets to lead an army despite two of his siblings being arguably much better suited to do so. Also, the simple fact that everyone follows your suggestions/orders without as much as a hesitation breaks the suspension of disbelief.The main reason I consider this games story to be one of the weaker Fire Emblem stories, mind you, Fire Emblem has never been known for its stellar storytelling, but they always not only made sense but also didnt try to hide their simplicity. The original FE (which was remade into Shadow Dragon) arguably has a better storyline simply because it doesnt try to pretend that its more complicated as it is. Its like your parents telling you that you are going to have the most amazing Xmas gift of all time, only to then surprise you with a DVD Batman vs. Superman, had they just said from the beginning that you were getting BvS you would have been less disappointed. The game builds up expectations so early on, and its been hyped to have such an intriguing storyline, only then to fall flat into what the series has always had, so it ultimately feels disappointing. Also, when there are such amazing FE stories such as Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn or even Genealogy of the Holy War its a mystery as to why we got this.A word or two have to be said about the characters in this game. While Corrin is a fairly stale character, sadly the same has to be said for the remaining cast. None of them stand out significantly save a couple of characters here and there. Also, because it was such a popular feature in Awakening, characters can marry here and have children. While I enjoyed the concept in Awakening, here its just kind of there to pander to the people that wouldnt be happy unless the kids were there and for those who adored Awakening above all else. This is because of two reasons: in Awakening, the presence of the children made sense, that game involved time travel, so it made sense that the children would be there in the past, here however to explain how a child can grow to an adult in mere seconds (including the pregnancy I guess too??) the game gives you a quick text box saying how you placed the child in the deeprealm where they would be safe and where time passes quicker...well how convenient. This wouldnt be so bad if it werent for the fact that the kids are absolute duds. Half of them are just clones from famous Awakening characters, the resemblance being so high that some characters names are just anagrams of their Awakening counterpart (Rhajat -> Tharja). It feels like mindless pandering that brings absolutely nothing special to the table.This is definitely not the game youll play for the story or the characters.Gameplay--------------Now, I understand I am going to receive a lot of criticism for criticising the gameplay of an FE game, but hear me out. Before I get people complaining that Im not a true or whatever, I have played every single FE game in existence including the Japanese ones and have also finished and beaten Fire Emblem Thracia, so please, I am definitely not a newcomer to this series. Heres the deal however, Birthrights gameplay is one of the most boring and monotonous ones in the series. Fire Emblem Awakening (the predecessor) is considered to be one of the most basic of all FE games and was criticised heavily for its repetitive missions ranging from "kill the boss" to "kill all enemies"....thats not a lot of variation. And sadly Birthright continues this tradition. The problem here however is that, at least on "Hard" difficulty the game poses absolutely no threat to you. I may have a lot of experience with these games, but its not like I can just tackle these games on hard mode easily, in fact there are only two "hard" runs Ive had with these games and they took me forever to finish. But what we have here is borderline offensive. Up until chapter 22 these levels are incredibly easy were you fight against "unpromoted" (meaning weaker) enemies while your characters have already long since promoted. And the later chapters only pose a threat because they throw so many reinforcements at you that you cant help but just sit tight and slowly take them on. Its boring, unimaginative and rather insulting when compared to what you see in Conquest. Oh and just so you know, you cannot save in between the last two missions meaning if you lose a character thats vital to the story you will either have to deal with that character being dead and never returning (assuming you are playing on "classic" mode were every character disappears completely if they die) or you can restart the previous chapter.However, it should be noted that not everything about the gameplay is bad. Actually there are a bunch of new things that are handled reeeeally well. For instance, the "pair up" mechanic, through which two characters occupy one space on the map and can aid each other in combat, has been revamped a little bit to not make it unbeatable like in Awakening. See, now when characters pair up they can no longer both attack together, instead a meter slowly builds up which lets your partner block one incoming attack (the opening attack from an enemy should they get the jump on you). Also, should two enemies attack you your ally will always block the second one. In other words "pairing up" is a way to play this game defensively. If youd prefer going into the offensive then you should not pair up characters but place them next to each other, stat bonuses are granted to the units and both characters get to do their attacks leading to a huge amount of potential damage.Also worth mentioning are the new weapons and classes. Birthright takes a lot of inspiration from the feudal japan setting, so instead of swords youll find Katanas here, instead of spears nagintas etc. One new type of weapon (for both Conquest and Nohr) is the Dagger/Shuriken. These weapons have a pretty cool feature wherein they dont really deal as much damage (this however simply depends on the wielder of the weapon) but upon contact with the enemy, the enemies stats have now been significantly lowered to make them easier to kill for everyone else. Also, Hoshidan healing staves (called rods here) enable ranged healing on even the cheapest rods (a feature which used to be reserved for veeery special healing staves called "psychic" in past games). Couple this with the new Ninja, Mechanist and Spear Master classes (among others) and you have some veeery strong new additions to the FE formula. Changes which I really enjoy.Furthermore, this game adds one last big element that no FE game had before it: My Castle. My Castle mode serves as a type of hubworld that you can design...kinda like your very own castle! (shocker) Here you can interact with your crew, you can construct buildings ranging from armouries, to mess halls, hot tubs, blacksmiths and even an arena. While this type of gameplay element never really interested me too much I still appreciated the simplicity of it, and the fact that enemies would routinely attack my castle (meaning how I placed my buildings could give me a tactical advantage) was rather enjoyable and while it doesnt seem quite logical as to why you have your own castle, or even why you can just go back to it when your army is doing a full on assault in the enemies capital, it is executed so well that I hope future titles in the series have this as well.Graphics/Music---------------------I would really have loved to put "gameplay" as this games best aspect but sadly its just got too many problems to be considered for that spot. Thankfully the game is a technical marvel, and while it does slow down when the 3D is turned on and 4 Wyverns are duking it out, graphically its a sight to behold. Its got the same gorgeous engine that Awakening had, except this time the animations are much better and the characters finally have feet again. The animated cutscenes are brilliantly made and the musical score is top notch. I am not going to spoil anything here but the music in the last chapter is absolutely breathtaking. Truly, this games graphics and music are unparalleled within the FE universe.Conclusion---------------"How can you give 4/5 despite tearing the game apart?" Easy, because its still not bad, its actually quite good. Despite my issues with the level design and the story being flawed, the core FE spirit is still well and alive in this game. This is a great game for anyone to play who enjoyed the heck out of Awakening and I can highly recommend it to any newcomer. With that said, everyone who wants a little more of a challenge or (far better) level design, should definitely play Conquest. Maybe thats also a reason as to why I was disappointed in this game, I played the (in my eyes) far superior Conquest first and then this. This game is great, but its also a bit of a disappointment.

5.10.2016

Fire Emblem Fates, the limited edition, is a rather strange case of a game that is well worth its (original - not scalper) price but begs us to ask the question, "should this game even exist?" Since I have decided to review each Fates game I want to incorporate the review of the limited edition together with my review of Fire Emblem Fates Revelations. First up I would like to start with my short review of Revelations.Music/Graphics---------------------Lets just get this out of the way, Revelations is just as beautiful as the other two games. The game runs on the same engine and animations and combat is as smooth as ever. The framerate takes a small dip if you turn on the 3D (especially when there are many things going on)but the rest of the game runs very smoothly. As for the music, it is as beautiful here as it is in the other games. This game has a different take on the theme song and while I still prefer the Conquest version of it its still as beautiful as ever.I do have one small complaint here because this game seems to have fewer CG cutscenes than the two main games. While the CG scenes were never really as important or great as what we got in Awakening its still a little bit of a shame.Gameplay--------------The gameplay here is identical to the previous two games as well except that its probably the most varied of the three games. See, Revelations is unique because it presents us with a "best of both worlds" style. The game isnt all too complicated but features plenty of challenging/unique maps akin to Conquest. Also, and this is incredibly important to me, despite this game also (just like the previous two games) refusing to let us save between the last two missions (Revelations actually has another case like this between chapters 16 and 17, youve been warned!), the final two chapters are absolutely brilliant. They are not particularly straightforward and the Endgame chapter doesnt make you rush the final boss (unlike Birthright and Conquest) leading to a really nice pay off if you managed to level your party sufficiently.Speaking of "leveling your party", since this game allows you to play as many missions as youd like to outside the campaign you can finally make sure that all the Nohr royals you have get the proper amount of time to level to their highest potential. Additionally, the My Castle feature is at its absolute best here allowing you to buy buildings form both the Hoshido and the Nohr kingdoms giving you full access to the amazing Nohrian weapons and the spectacular Hoshidan staves.And finally, probably the best aspect of this game, its the most complete version of Fates. You have access to every unit in the game save one (which wasnt a really useful unit anyhow), you have the ability to get every child from both paths and are able to create what is easily the most powerful army. This is also maybe this games biggest weakness of this game. See, the issue that this game has is that, while it is awesome to have all the amazing royal units, you can imagine that when you have an army with all these units, which are often already considered to be overpowered by themselves, turns the entire game into a cakewalk. Personally though, this was not too much of an issue for me as a whole, but it is worth noting nonetheless. If you want a challenge in this game, dont bother with normal mode, that was my mistake.Story-------While I have considered the story of Fates to be very weak so far, I must say that Revelations, while not entirely flawless, is definitely the best way to experience Fates. It is easily the most complete story, it rounds off the story quite nicely, and explains many of the plot points that are completely ignored in the previous two games. Essentially you can view this games story to be canon, and the Conquest/Birthright storylines to be the sidestories. I dont really want to say much about this games story because I believe that you should experience it for yourself, but its definitely worth the ride, and especially the last couple of chapters are simply phenomenal, with a final boss that makes my nostalgic FE heart jump with joy.Overall---------Overall, while I wouldnt recommend Revelations for a first time Fates player, it is definitely an amazing game, and after all is said and done, though I had more fun playing Conquest (based on the games difficulty), I must concede that Revelations is far superior to its standalone counterparts.Now some words about the Limited Edition: when it comes to the LE we must ask ourselves, "should there have even been an LE?" I am not entirely sure about that myself. Now I must say that I was very lucky with the LE, I bought it in a store, and I believe they had a mistake in their system, because I got my copy for roughly 65€ (considering one single game retailed for 40€, this was a steal), so I may be a little biased based on the low purchasing price. To answer the basic question, "is it worth getting?", I would say yes. HOWEVER, this depends entirely on how you get it. 40€ for the base game + 20€ (counterpart) + 20€ (revelations) makes for a total price of 80€ for all three (sorry, I do not know for how much the game sells in the UK but I think youll be able to extrapolate the pricing model to GBP). This price is absolutely fine for the amount of fun Ive had with all three games. That said though I must ask the question as two why we even got three separate versions in the first place? Birthright, Conquest AND Revelations all reuse their assets A CRAZY LOT. Aside from the last couple of missions, for the most part, all the missions from chapters 1-18 are reused throughout the different games at least once. Also, the LE is definitive proof that all three games fit on one cartridge (assuming this cartridge is the same size as standard 3DS cartridges). During the GBA days Fire Emblem Sacred Stones managed to give us diverging paths with different levels and it all fit on one cartridge. So why couldnt Nintendo do this here too? Is it the extra revenue they can generate by selling the games separately? If they did use a higher capacity cartridge, maybe they didnt want to sell a game above the general price of most 3DS games?All of this is up for speculation, and while we can discuss whether or not Nintendo should have done this or not I believe that the LE/purchasing all three games at the reduced eShop price are well worth their price, despite the similarities between the games. It is also, naturally, pretty bitter for people to have to buy Revelations to get the true ending of Fire Emblem Fates, but the price is worth it.Regarding the rest of the LE. The LE comes with a rather pretty steelbook featuring both royal families facing each other, a pretty lame poster (if its not the size of a movie poster I dont consider it a poster, this one is about the size of an A3 paper I believe), and a nice artbook to look at once and then put back into the nice box. The main draw, of course, is the game with its three games. Oh! And before I forget, you get a total of 9 save slots. This is really helpful if you want to organize your games, and the order you wish to play them in (and share the game with siblings, friends and/or your spouse).As a hardcore Fire Emblem fan (which I consider myself to be) I could not let this edition slip through my fingers, and I needed to have Revelations on a chip and for me it was well worth the money. For those who are not sure, dont bother with the LE for now, start with Birthright or Conquest (please see my other reviews to see what I thought of these) and then, maybe, purchase the other two games at a reduced price.

13.12.2017

'This way!B-Big sister?She's MY sisterWe're your family.'They say variety is the spice of life,but sometimes you must make a choice-Pizza or pasta? Nightclub or cinema? Choices,choices and more choices. In fact,it's the choices you make that affect everything in Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem:Fates for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. Following the success of 2013's Fire Emblem:Awakening,Intelligent Systems decided to have another go with this gleaming 3DS gem. Fire Emblem Fates is something casual and intense gamers will both love!Let's talk story-You create an avatar,like in Awakening.You start out as Nohrian royalty raised in isolation,with visits from your siblings-Xander,Camilla,Leo and Elise-being your only excitement.After disobeying your monstrous father King Garon,you get sent on a scouting mission-that ends in failure and capture.Taken into Hoshido,you are reunited with your 'real' siblings-Ryoma,Hinoka,Takumi and Sakura-who reveal you were kidnapped by the Nohrian king when you were little.Your choice soon comes-Do you return to Nohr and join the only family you ever knew? Or stay in Hoshido and return to the family you were stolen from? The story revolves around this choice-but each path is as different as a box of Celebrations! In Birthright,you've got characters like the grumpy Saizo and the tenacious yet tender-hearted Ryoma while in Conquest,you've got the enigmatic Odin and the Hoshido-hating yet doting Camilla.Your story is different,too-In Birthright,you strive to protect Hoshido and get to know your 'long-lost family'. In Conquest,you return to Nohr and strive to change its brutal history from within. Different concepts await in each path-Conquest has all the classic Fire Emblem classes,such as the cavalier ,knight and fighter while Birthright features the ninja,shrine maiden and samurai,classes new to the series. Another difference is difficulty-Birthright is obviously the beginner-friendly path,with simpler scenarios and skirmishes outside of chapters to gain gold and experience,while Conquest is much harder with limited resources and cash,harder scenarios and enemies with damaging skills,like Poison Strike. There's also the DLC path Revelation,too,where you take neither side and hope to resolve the conflict without putting any of your families to the sword.Revelation combines the simplicity of Birthright with the complexity of Conquest-but you should first complete Birthright and Conquest at least once before doing it.The game's visuals are absolutely stunning,with glorious clarity whether you play with the 3D on or not,from the rugged mountains of Nohr to the cherry blossoms of Hoshido,each frame is a work of art.The fact Intelligent Systems brought Kozaki Yusuke back on character design makes things even better. From visuals comes sounds-Various instruments,from the koto and sho in Birthright to the fiddle and harpsichord in Conquest,each piece is true art to the ears from start to finish.Even the main theme song,Lost In Thoughts All Alone,sung by the talented Broadway actress and voice actress of Princess Azura,Rena Strober,is a sheer piece of musical artwork!From start to finish,Fire Emblem:Fates is a feast for the eyes and ears! Veterans and beginners alike will adore this-but for beginners,I recommend playing Birthright first as it's more beginner-friendly than the other two. Despite that,an absolute gem of a game and one of the best on the 3DS!!Brilliant!!

20.5.2016

Fire Emblem Fates comes in two versions (and the third one that can be bought from the E-shop): Birthright and Conquest. Quite early in the game (for me it was about an hour) you get to choose the side and that determinesthe story you're about to play. If you've only bought one version of the game, you're presented with the choice screen but other options are greyed out. I decided to pick 'Birthright' first after reading comments online that it offers more side quests and levelling options compared to 'Conquest'. AndI'm not disappointed. This is also the recommended version for those who arenew to the series because even if you pick the easier option without permanent death of your heroes,

16.6.2016

Although this game includes many of the well-loved features from Awakening, they are not on par with it at all. The characterisation of many characters in Birthright is poor, especially the female ones (with the exception of your Hoshidian siblings), whilst when meeting any characters from Conquest within this game's story, it is clear that the good personalities went into that game's characters. The gameplay is also incredibly easy. I played Awakening on classic and difficult mode and struggled a fair bit (had to let a few of my characters go in my first playthrough), whilst in Birthright I have rarely come across a chapter which I cannot complete in a single attempt,

28.5.2016

I love the fire emblem series, this game hasn't changed that.The music and graphics are beautiful, I adore the supports and character designs, I love all those little extras they added to this game.Weapons don't break, meaning I can actually save money and not have to constantly store so many items when grinding supports.Support system hasn't changed from Awakening aside from you can now have BFFs and you can change class with a friendship seal. Supports have always been one of the things that always had me attached to the fire emblem series and I'm glad to see those haven't changed for the worse.If I were to recommend which to play first between Birthright and Conquest,

27.5.2016

To be honest this game is abit of a con, the developer broke the game into 3 and then sells each to you as a single game, scalpers are selling the special edition that has all 3 games on a single cart at stupidly high price and make out its worthwhile as its the only way to get the whole game on a single cart, well you wont be getting the whole game on a single cart anyway, because there are 3 map packs to buy over the next few months, again more money for very little effort for the developer, and each pack is really a season pass for maps that will take 2-3 months to be released, but in the game it doesn't tell you that, just pay £18 for map pack one, when you check, none of the maps are available to use,

23.3.2016

The year is 2020... Still no sign of the Special Edition for the U.K... The placeholder remains as it was four years ago, and hope is dwindling... We've all gone crazy, Nintendo asks to please understand, but we refuse! There are protests against their cruel ways, people screaming, children crying, cosplays ripped... It is complete madness... But if this is what it takes, then so be it... We shall get our Special Edition, and we shall be victorious...An American friend of mine messages me every so often with details of the game. Words can be sparingly. "Grandma's cookies," he will send, but when I question him on these two words, he does not reply. Instead, he tends to say,

22.6.2016

This is the first time I bought a fire emblem game, and I am thoroughly enjoying it, and becoming a completely unsociable person-always been found behind my 3ds at the moment! I am not a stranger to RPG games, but this is something like I have never played before, I would describe it more like 'battle strategy', where you have a whole army to control. The controls are not difficult, but there are some instructions to try and remember, but after a look up online it all became second nature after a few battles. This game gives you the ability to alter the difficulty level quite extremely, which I was happy to see as I was worried I would find it too difficult,

29.3.2017

In my opinion I still like Awakening better, if your new to the franchise I would start there first. The story is much stronger and compliments the later mechanics to do with the children later than Fates which seems just to throw it in. The individual character support stories are also stronger in Awakening, in Fates they can sometimes feel quite forced. I also think Awakening is harder, with weapons that break over time there is a lot more to maintain. If you want to start with an easier game Birthright is where to start, conquest is the hardest of the new 3DS generation and Awakening somewhere in the middle.

28.2.2019

The Fire Emblem Series is a long established Nintendo series, dating back over 20 years. Fates is an excellent sequel. Birthright is one branch of the three part storyline and is a great start point, though it is possible to begin with Conquest first. Essentially, the overall story involves choosing 2 paths - the player does this by choosing either Birthright or Conquest. A further storyline (Revelation) is available as a download, but you have to have either of the other two first. Gameplay involves choosing actions in turn, rather like Pokémon, but that does not mean it is limited. There is a solid cast of characters, with developed backgrounds, together with many chances to level up and receive weapons.

19.5.2016

Received my copy today from Nintendo. Clearly keen to make sure people get them in time! Game plays fine, and seems to live up to hype. The artbook is a little sparse with regards to wording/detail and is also not as big as I expected. The steelbook and map are good quality.However, one interesting thing is the game itself, the cover slip to the standard box is VERY retail friendly. It looks like a standard game and is just titled as "Fire Emblem Fates" so I am wondering if in time they may release this on it's own as just a complete copy without the extra physical bonuses. I hope so for those (like me)

4.11.2017

Great game, but be aware that you only have access to one route of the game with any version that you buy. You can buy the other 2 routes for half the price of the game each. I'd say it's very worth it if you enjoy Fire Emblem games. This isn't the most challenging of the Fire Emblem series but definitely one of the most fun.Don't expect too much out of the graphics except during real cutscenes. The start of the game won't look too great but it gets better as it goes on and might even grow on you.The game itself excluding the initial awful cutscenes is very fun and I have just as much fun with character interactions as I used to years ago.

30.7.2016

Amazing game. I literally cannot put it down. The story is great and the characters really awesome. I love strategy games most so this is perfect for me. You can pick the type of game you want. I picked casual because I'm new to this game. But the next time I'll play it, I'll pick a harder level. I like the fact that beside the story I can develop bonds with the characters and even marry!! That took me by surprise actually but it made me laugh!! Recommend to all gamers!!

22.6.2016

I received product in excellent condition a very quickly. I enjoy trying to figure out the fiddly bits and pieces going on in the background of the mechanics. I would recommend Birthright to complete beginners to the series and Conquest for more experienced players or those looking for a more classical challenge.It is a shame I had to submit to scalpers for my purchase which has brought to overall experience down (£150 instead)

Fire Emblem: Fates (3DS) - Reviews

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