Fire Emblem Echoes - Shadows of Valentia

Developer Intelligent Systems
Publisher Nintendo
Distributor Nintendo South Africa
Where we got our copy Nintendo South Africa
Genre RPG
Game modes Single Player
Players 1
Reviewed on Nintendo 3DS

Princess Of Jozi

Published May 23, 2017

Today we are talking about Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It was released worldwide on May 19 for the 3DS platform and is available in-store or on the Nintendo eShop.

For those of you that don’t already know, Fire Emblem is a full remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, originally released in 1992 in Japan only, for the NES Famicom. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia also happens to be the third instalment of the Fire Emblem franchise to be released for the 3DS, after Awakenings and Fates, and the thirteenth instalment of the franchise as a whole.

There are few pure gamers, let alone normal people, that can come to terms with the level of tactical thinking that is required when playing any instalment in the Fire Emblem franchise. In that sense, it feels to me more like those old school text based games like Zork than most other, more “modern” games that are available today. But this is far from a bad thing. Tactical thinking is an extraordinary skill to have in your arsenal. But if you don’t, it’s okay. You will still be afforded the joy that Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia has in store for you.

Before we go on, we need to come to terms with the fact that Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is one of those games that, regardless of its rich plot and fantastic storylines, is saturated with cut scenes. I mean, a lot of cut scenes. A LOT. Fortunately, this does not take much away from the story, and at times, is very competent at enriching said story.

Speaking of the story, let’s get into it. The game follows the lives of our two main characters, Alm and Celica. Childhood friends, who are separated at a very young age, must follow their own independent paths. I say independent, but that does not mean that their paths don’t cross as their stories play out.

They start out as friends, doing what any pair of kids do in a tiny village, explore. But, as expected, war comes knocking, and the friends are torn apart. Fast forward a few years and we reunited with Alm, who started out as a lowly peasant who spends his childhood in a tiny backwater village, now pushed into a position of leadership. He now stands as a figurehead of a populist army tasked with driving out the invaders who ousted the King of the country he grew up in. in contrast, Celica started out as a priestess who, after going into hiding in that same village where she first met Alm, is forced to return to her homeland and undertake a pilgrimage to request an all-powerful goddess to remove the pain and suffering that has plagued the world for many years.

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As the player, you are afforded the task of playing as both characters, switching between the two at various points throughout the game. You are tasked with seeing the war from both perspectives and are able to see how each character’s actions effects the other.

Their respective paths are filled with a multitude of conversations and cut scenes (I told you so). But these moments within the game are rather fulfilling thanks to the inclusion of a full voice cast. Every character is completely voiced, so there are no awkward silences while you read through essays of conversations between the characters. This is, by the way, the first Fire Emblem title to include a full voice cast.

The gameplay of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia does take some getting used to. Unlike previous titles like Awakenings; which gave the player a more energetic experience. As it was previously mentioned, to really have a chance to excel in battle, a certain level of tactical know-how is required. The whole idea of the battle system is rather linear. You are required to move characters across large scale battlefields, like a game of digital chess. This does, unfortunately, take some getting used to. At first, I found myself wishing that I could speed the whole process up.

As your characters come into contact with enemies, be it enemy soldiers or a multitude of monsters, known as Terrors, a battle ensues. You as the player actually have no control over the battle at this point. You’re tasked with sitting back, watching the one on one skirmish ensue and praying that your character doesn’t miss. They do unfortunately miss quite a lot. The issue here is not having control over the actual battle. You spend copious amounts of time positioning your troops to cause untold destruction, and you never get to actually cause said destruction. It tends to be rather unsatisfying.

If you think the battle system is tedious already, it does get a bit more complicated. Characters have classes. And this means that some characters are more effective against certain types of enemies than others. This factor on its own is not a problem at all. What makes playing Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia even trickier is the fact that the actual effectiveness is not described very well. You end up spending a significant amount of time in trial and error mode, trying to figure out which character to use against which enemies.

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Unlike Awakenings, which provided the player with a plethora of characters to choose from, SoV is a bit light on playable characters. This means that you do need to plan ahead when it comes to choosing which characters you want to use. You need to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where and how to find the exact characters you want to have. This; coupled with the fact that you never really know which team structure is most effective in battle, makes playing SoV a bit more difficult than expected.

It’s not all bad though. As you progress through the story, character development becomes supremely satisfying. But even this contains some disadvantages. Let’s take the simple act of casting a spell. This is a feature provided by a large number of games out there. Obviously, you can’t be permitted to cast spells without using some form of mana or energy. In the case of SoV, however, spell casting diminishes your character’s health. This is yet another level of difficulty added on top of an already tricky gameplay methodology.

Overall, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is not a bad game. It is enriched by a deep and engrossing story and provides glorious cinematics within the cut scenes. The overall experience is; however diluted somewhat by the addition of the complex and, at times tedious battle system. I can fully understand that the developers wanted players to feel like they were playing the original Fire Emblem Gaiden, but it is very difficult to make a game that feels vintage without it also feeling dated.

Today we are talking about Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It was released worldwide on May 19 for the 3DS platform and is available in-store or on the Nintendo eShop. For those of you that don’t already know, Fire Emblem is a full remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, originally released in 1992 in Japan only, for the NES Famicom. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia also happens to be the third instalment of the Fire Emblem franchise to be released for the 3DS, after Awakenings and Fates, and the thirteenth instalment of the franchise as a whole. There are few pure gamers, let alone normal people, that can come to terms with the level of tactical thinking that is required when playing any instalment in the Fire Emblem franchise. In that sense, it feels to me more like those old school text based games like Zork than most other, more “modern” games that are available today. But this is far from a bad thing. Tactical thinking is an extraordinary skill to have in your arsenal. But if you don’t, it’s okay. You will still be afforded the joy that Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia has in store for you. Before we go on, we need to come to terms with the fact that Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is one of those games that, regardless of its rich plot and fantastic storylines, is saturated with cut scenes. I mean, a lot of cut scenes. A LOT. Fortunately, this does not take much away from the story, and at times, is very competent at enriching said story. Speaking of the story, let’s get into it. The game follows the lives of our two main characters, Alm and Celica. Childhood friends, who are separated at a very young age, must follow their own independent paths. I say independent, but that does not mean that their paths don’t cross as their stories play out. They start out as friends, doing what any pair of kids do in a tiny village, explore. But, as expected, war comes knocking, and the friends are torn apart. Fast forward a few years and we reunited with Alm, who started out as a lowly peasant who spends his childhood in a tiny backwater village, now pushed into a position of leadership. He now stands as a figurehead of a populist army tasked with driving out the invaders who ousted the King of the country he grew up in. in contrast, Celica started out as a priestess who, after going into hiding in that same village where she first met Alm, is forced to return to her homeland and undertake a pilgrimage to request an all-powerful goddess to remove the pain and suffering that has plagued the world for many years. As the player, you are afforded the task of playing as both characters, switching between the two at various points throughout the game. You are tasked with seeing the war from both perspectives and are able…

Video Game Review: Fire Emblem Echoes – Shadows of Valentia

2017-05-23

Princess Of Jozi

Amazing Story, lackluster gameplay.

Total - 6.5

65 6.5

Shadows of Valentia is a quality remake of the original. But overly complex mechanics and tedious grinding are just barely saved by it's great Story telling.

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Article Tags: Alm · Celica · Echoes · Fire Emblem · nintendo · rpg · Shadows of Valentia · Strategy

Article Categories: Video Game Review