Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright Reviews
Not exactly novel but fantastic all the same. There's something here for everyone to love.
A tough, tactical adventure
Yet another feather in the 3DS's very well-adorned cap.
I don't think there are any bad Fire Emblem games, and despite that Birthright still manages to be one of the better ones. Conquest and Revelation already have a lot to live up to...
Birthright is at its best when it's expanding on the ideas presented in Fire Emblem Awakening, not simply rehashing them. The strategy segments are some of the strongest in the series thanks to some welcome mechanical changes and do an decent job of compensating for the game's weak plot.
If you're a hardcore Fire Emblem fan, this collection will give hours upon hours of unbridled gaming fun and if you're really keen, you have the option of playing it through again in order to experience the other side of the war. Furthermore, this game is beautifully presented on the 3DS that comes with a very cool steel book and a great art book featuring some amazing artwork from this universe.
This strategy RPG sequel is simple and accessible, but will satisfy hardcore RPG fans less than the other Fire Emblem Fates releases.
Fire Emblem Fates is a masterpiece – regardless of if you choose Birthright or Conquest. In fact your choice should be clear: get both!
Vast, gorgeous (and confusingly delivered), Fire Emblem Fates sees Intelligent Systems at the very top of its game.
A tactical triumph for the 3DS.
Picking up the ball that Fire Emblem: Awakening passed to it, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is a second chance at jumping into an iconic franchise for the first time and getting lost in the magic of love on the battlefield.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is amongst the best tactical videogames of all time. While it's not the wholesale reinvigoration that Awakening was, it is the refinement of three decades worth of game development, from a team who have fundamentally defined the handheld tactical genre.
Fire Emblem Fates is an incredible package and an experience that rivals the very best the 3DS has to offer.
The best Fire Emblem yet, with more depth of gameplay and options than ever before and yet still perfectly accessible for new players.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright presents a deeply captivating tale, woven around a masterful strategy experience that longs for you to sink time into its tactical depths. This is a gentler path than the other versions, but that doesn't detract from its resounding success.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright could very well be an outstanding chapter in a series that is cherished for its narratives and gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately Birthright falls down before it reaches its goal. Its very good production values and sharp combats openly clash with an uninspired and dull narrative, poorly implemented difficulty curve, generic and empty characters and the simple fact that it just doesn't work as a stand alone game in the first place.
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While not a bad game, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is one of the biggest disappointments in the series in years. It manages to have more map variety than the previous instalment, but it's pitifully lacking in every other regard. Even with better map design, it's so poorly balanced that the hardest difficulty feels less like a challenge of skill and more like an endurance match of how long certain units can go without being used before frustration kicks in. With an even worse story being fronted by one of the worst casts in the series, Birthright offers very little in terms of series progression, instead opting for an incredibly safe experience that, while not bad, doesn't push the series forward either. With context needed from Conquest, Revelation, and DLC content to fully flesh out and understand the story, Birthright, and by extension Fates, sets a bad precedent for not just the rest of the series, but for video games themselves.
In a series underwritten by amnesiac orphans, Fire Emblem Fates breaks away to tell a story about memory, family, and the self, meditating on the decisions that define us and how we regret them.
If you are a fan of Fire Emblem or tactical games in general, Fire Emblem Fates will not disappoint.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is a fantastic addition to the series and easily one of the best Fire Emblem games. The new mechanics and combat changes are almost all for the better, and they go hand in hand with the awesome level design and engaging gameplay. The only real flaws are some lackluster story beats and a rather half-baked system for bringing back child characters, neither of which comes remotely close to souring the game. Fans of the franchise will find a lot to love here, and newcomers should find Birthright to be an excellent place to be introduced to the franchise's strong points.