Strategy starts pretty easy, easing you into the basics of movements and attacks, but it can quickly overwhelm you as it introduces tougher enemies and environmental considerations. Instead, the interplay between its characters as you take them through genuinely tense battles is what makes Fire Emblem such a moreish handheld experience. Thankfully, it’s clear that the story isn’t the main attraction. Fans of Fire Emblem will also be used to the ton of different names that get thrown at you as you work through its story, and Valentia is no different here. The dynamic between protagonists Alm and Celica is pretty interesting, as is the relationships between all of the game’s cast, but the first eight or so hours are slow. The story isn’t the best, though, and it takes far too long to get going. Up against the likes of Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Shadows of Valentia emerges looking superior where dialogue is concerned, and the fact that all of it is voiced is also impressive. It helps that the writing and voice work is standout throughout, with its actors delivering moments of heightened emotion and fraught tension super-effectively. This is where Shadows of Valentia gets plenty right, delivering a load of great characters and offering up some fantastic narrative set pieces.
In this instance you play as two different characters, Alm and Celica, who are lifelong friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the same huge war. Much like Fire Emblem games of old, the strategic turn-based battling is wrapped up in a big-stakes story with a likeable cast. This is a fabulously well-made game – from its looks to the voice work, to the implementation of its strategy – despite the overtly limited controls of its handheld hardware. It’s also a wonderful reminder of just how great the 3DS console is in the right hands. It may be a remake of a quarter-century-old game, but Shadows of Valentia retains the core strategic mechanics that Intelligent Systems has been honing over that time, which means you can jump right in even if you’ve only played Awakening or Fates.
Fire emblem echoes shadows of valentia series#
This is a reminder of just how long this esteemed series has been going – but it’s refreshing unlike reboots and remasters, full-blown remakes are rare these days.
Fire emblem echoes shadows of valentia full#
Instead, it’s a full remake of the 1992 Famicom game, Fire Emblem Gaiden. Now, Intelligent Systems is releasing Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, which isn’t a new game at all. With three different versions of the game available – Birthright, Conquest, and a downloadable content pack called Revelations – the Fire Emblem series became complex.īuy Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia now from Amazon UK | Back in 2013, developer Intelligent Systems released the frighteningly good Fire Emblem: Awakening, but then last year saw the release of the equally fantastic Fire Emblem Fates. If you’ve lost track of the Fire Emblem series, then Echoes: Shadows of Valentia isn’t likely to put your confusion at bay.
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