Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Reviews
A revival of a 1992 Famicom game that never made it out of Japan, there's more to Echoes than a mere history lesson.
Despite never reaching North America in its original debut 25 years ago, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia makes for a fun, albeit simpler, adventure on Nintendo 3DS.
On the battlefield, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shades of Valentia is a delightful look into the simpler combat of Fire Emblem's past. Elsewhere, it carefully guides the series forward into new territory. There's not as much depth as I expect from this series, but whether I was exploring 3D forests, shrines, and caves in a series first, or learning first hand why Fire Emblem's early entries are considered a formidable challenge, it was usually good old-fashioned fun.
Far from the quick-and-dirty update it might have been, Shadows of Valentia is no Awakening, but an enlightening and worthwhile history lesson.
Provides the challenge hardcore players seek, but the experience comes with its fair share of frustrations
Shadows of Valentia commits to its dated systems, for better and worse
Fire Emblem Echoes' combat and exploration work so well that you won't lament the absence of the series' recent dating-sim whims.
The combat, although robust, tends to frustrate and the story, although impeccable in presentation, doesn't quite feel as sweeping and romantic as previous titles on the 3DS.
More Fire Emblem you say? I won't argue.
Fire Emblem Echoes is a sparkling remake without much variety or strategy to scratch beneath the surface. Try it.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, by no means a flawless entry in the nearly three decade-old franchise, may well be the closest the series has gotten to somehow finding a happy medium between past legacy and contemporary appeal.
As the last Fire Emblem chapter on Nintendo's heroic handheld, Echoes delivers a perfect swan song for the series' 3DS days. This is a satisfying, deeply strategic adventure with an engaging, personal story and beautiful presentation, full of appealing art and lovely details that come alive as you play. But more than that, it's also just delightfully different from its predecessors, in ways that only broaden its appeal.
Put aside any misconceptions you have about strategy RPGs, Shadows of Valentia demands your time and will make you feel good for it.
But how should you take all of this? If you are a regular Fire Emblem fan and have previously experienced the other Nitnendo 3DS adventures, you are going to have an absolute blast with Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. However, without the high bar of quality we've seen in the previous two games, Echoes may not hook newcomers the same way.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a nice way of playing Fire Emblem Gaiden but it fails to achieve the quality of the latest games of the franchise.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The perfect jumping on point for both new players and those wanting to fill in the gaps in Fire Emblem lore, although the game lacks the depth of more modern entries.
Despite being a remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is one of the most outstanding games to come to Nintendo 3DS this year. Also it's one of the best deliveries of Fire Emblem thanks to inclusion of novelties as exploration in 3D and classic elements of the saga.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Fire Emblem Echoes could have been held back by its need to usher the second iteration back into the fold, but it still feels like a fresh new entry. It is weaker than the last few games, but those bars were set so high that I won't hold that against it.
A game which is both old and new. And that's why it works so good even after all this years.
Review in Italian | Read full review