Fire Emblem: Awakening

The plot is not exactly Oscar-like, but the quality of the animated interludes makes you forgive everything.

The first aspect that stands out is the flexibility of the options available. To begin with, the difficulty can be customized on two different levels: the first allows you to choose between the Classic mode, where the characters who fall in battle are dead forever, and the more peaceful Casual, where the lost heroes automatically rise again at the end mission. Those who want a real Fire Emblem, with all the strong emotions that derive from the so-called permadeath, will focus on the first option, but those who prefer a more relaxed experience can have it without problems. The other parameter is related to the difficulty of the fighting, organized in three levels ranging from relatively easy to almost impossible. With these two adjustments, anyone can have the perfect Fire Emblem for their needs, both from the point of view of the tactical commitment required, and from that of the "stress" of the experience. The tutorial is also a perfect center: it only appears on the touchscreen, it does not interrupt the action and can be cheerfully ignored (or disabled). And speaking of touch, the control system is completely independent of the use of the stylus, which is useful, for those who want, just to get more information on the objects displayed on the lower screen.

Fire Emblem Awakening can also be customized on the amount of information displayed. Beginners can see simplified, extremely legible and comfortable statistics to understand at a glance how a given fight could resolve itself, while experts can wallow in the sea of numbers that animates the game. Everything is comfortable, everything works, everything can be adapted to your tastes. It may seem trivial, but anyway: there are not many finished products like this. Wanting to search for the fur, the real flaw of the interface is the absence of an option to restart a mission (which you will want to do often and willingly, if you play in Classic mode and want to keep the whole team close), but the lack is resolved in the old way, restarting the game and loading the first save.

Having the heroes fight in pairs is very useful, but it limits the growth of one of the characters.

Turning to the actual game, Fire Emblem Awakening seems to be the result of all the years of experience of Intelligent Systems. Going beyond its laudable accessibility, it is a rich, complete, long-lived strategic, which finds its perfect home in 3DS. If it is the first time that you have tried a game like this, a well-balanced difficulty curve will present you in order with the many mechanics that regulate the fighting. We find the usual stone / paper / scissor system for weapons, divided into axes, swords and spears, while the classes have specific vulnerabilities and strengths. A good strategist will learn to manage the extra range given by archers and wizards, to load with knights, to keep pegasus riders away from arrows and to have a healer in the area just in case. From a fundamental point of view, the only break from the usual Fire Emblem rules is the management of magic, which this time does not have a triangle system like other weapons: magic is simply magic, and there are no distinctions between arts dark and elemental. A somewhat bizarre choice, but compensated by a good variety of tomes (some of which, in fact, are particularly effective against magicians).

The interface is very comfortable, and everything can be customized according to your tastes.

The biggest strategic novelty is linked to the support system, which allows to form (or dissolve) couples, directly on the battlefield. The two heroes involved occupy only one space on the board, and the main one receives a bonus to various statistics, obviously based on who has been paired. Doing so creates super units, which if they want can fill the gaps in some classes. For example, by combining a pegasus with a heavier unit, it is possible to widen its movement, and if necessary the order of the couple can be reversed, obtaining a super unit with radically different characteristics. Having a duo has its effects even during real fights: based on the level of collaboration, in fact, there is a probability that the secondary hero intervenes with an additional attack, or that he protects the partner by repairing it entirely from damage. Learning to manage couples is the secret of the success of Fire Emblem Awakening, also because after the introductory phases begin to offer unequal challenges, with very high-level enemy units and scenarios in which the less resistant heroes risk being eliminated in one fell swoop , if positioned with little care.