"Amnesia may be a tired concept, but Fire Emblem Awakening: Awakening sure isn't!"

Preface:

I am going to come out and say it: I am not a Fire Emblem fan. Fire Emblem: Awakening is the one, and only, Fire Emblem game I have ever played. This means I will have to be taking a more critical look at the series as opposed to a fan's look. That being said; while I may not enjoy the game as much as long time fans of the series, Fire Emblem: Awakening soaked a great many hours out of my life, and I believe at this point in time, I'm ready to say what I think.

Graphics:

Fire Emblem: Awakening is on the 3DS, which means that while you can expect spectacular graphics for a handheld console, the world of home consoles running off HD will always surpass this game's graphics. Regardless, this game looks great in the palm of your hands. The character sprites are charming, the battlefields are detailed and vary greatly, and the combat animations are always cool to watch--even if the first person camera option kinda sucks. All of your magic and abilities come across the battles as distinct actions, making every conflict interesting to see. The character design itself is quite extensive, giving you control of a very distinct looking group of combatants. The story cutscenes are also beautifully rendered, making a glorious spectacle every time they come around.

Sound:

Fire Emblem: Awakening's soundtrack is just awesome. While it may not stand up to the Triple A releases of the console age, this game sets the mood in ways I never thought it would. From the calm tones of the overworld and cutscenes to the epic scores that ring throughout the battlefield, Fire Emblem: Awakening makes you just FEEL good while in a large scale battle. Even extremely sad tracks somehow end up working despite being played in the background of a war, all because of the emotions in which the characters hold while fighting. The English voice acting is competent, and the Japanese voice acting is a separate option for those who prefer it.

Story:

Fire Emblem: Awakening's story is something I can't quite afford to go into detail with in a review, but know that it's not exactly the best around. It has its twists and turns, and its own lovable characters, but compared to some of the larger scale storytelling the gaming world is used to, it doesn't quite stand up. You're main character, whom you are able to customize to a decent degree, suffers from amnesia. Found by Chrom, the leader of the "Shepards" (a group of knights in service to the kingdom), you fight alongside him and his many allies in an attempt to fend off a strange new foe known as the "Risen", along with their naturally aggressive rival kingdoms. Amnesia is a tired concept, and the true focus of the new enemy is confusing, but for the most part it's easy to follow and understand. Time Travel is also a focus of the game's story, leading to even more cliches, but just as well considering the characters themselves are the stars of the show. Each character is unique, and has a great deal of dialog and backstory to explore.

Gameplay:

The meat of the game is here, and it's what sucks you in. You control a set number of troop consisting of various classes. Your main character has the unique ability to be any of the classes, and you are also able to upgrade or change the classes of your other units as well. This leads to an engaging game of chess where you have to choose your pieces first, then deploy them correctly. The game's difficulty is unforgiving, and one wrong misstep will have your strongest unit dead on the field. The AI has a clear focus on your units that lack combat ability, so enemies will make suicide charges to kill your healers just because they're in range. It's an extremely frustrating tendency, but one that forces you to think extremely carefully. Checking the range of attack on all of your enemies, and how that will change as you move your own units, is extremely important. You need to assure yourself that your valuable units are protected, and that your frontline fights aren't going to be mobbed. A Rock, Paper, Scissors-esque battle system relating to Axes, Swords, and Spears is spread over the combat, making the customization of your unit's weapons all the more important. Even more terrifying, when a unit of yours dies in battle, it is gone for good. Your love for that character's ability or personality is gone, and nothing short of resetting the game will get them back. You can opt to turn off the perma-death system, but it removes a great deal of tension from the game.

As an accessory to both story AND combat, a relationship system is in place. When characters fight side by side, they help each other in combat, sometimes blocking enemy attacks or engaging an opponent in tandem. It's a feature vital to the survival of your units, and adds yet another layer of strategy to your chess game. As the characters fight together, they grow in affection for each other, which manifests itself in the form of skits. Skits are little story moments that are usually between two characters. They can be funny, touching, or generally non-eventful, but they're always important if you want to learn more about the varied cast of characters. Your main unit in particular has four separate skits with EVER character in the game. Once the affection levels of two compatible characters is maxed out, then can get married, introducing us to the final major aspect of Fire Emblem: Awakening's gameplay.

The marriage system allows you to gain new units in the form of a child between the married characters. The character's name and hair color is dependent on the mother and father respectively, but the abilities they hold and the potential as fighters is decided by how you developed their parents in combat. The special abilities and overall stat ratings to the parent units directly reflects upon the child. Finding the right skill to pass down, or leveling up enough to make sure the child character isn't weak, is a great and engaging way to basically "build" more characters. They themselves also have a large amount of skits to go through, adding to the growing pool of personalities that make up your army. My only major grip is that the skits the children have with their mother and father are always defaulted, meaning that even if they have a different father in a different playthrough, the skits they had with the last one will still be the same.

Overall:

Fire Emblem: Awakening is an addictive and engaging strategy game that will test your mental fortitude in both strategy and sanity. The difficulty can be staggering at times, and the perma-death option can turn off many casual players. The storytelling is adequate, but not spectacular. The characters are fun and varied, and the way you build them is endlessly varied. The child system aids the way you can develop your army, and adds near endless replayability. The game may not push any boundaries, nor have many glaring flaws, but it's an extremely enjoyable way to spend your time. The JRPG genre hasn't grown old just yet, so have at 'em!

8/10