Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Reviews
Embracing a different take on Fire Emblem, Shadows of Valentia changes things up a bit to provide a weird but fresh experience for the franchise.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia proves that looking back doesn't mean missing something. In fact, this will definitely go down as one of the greatest Fire Emblem games in my opinion. Great characters, powerful story, challenging combat, this game has it all.
It's 2017, and the 3DS is in its sunset years- but Fire Emblem Echoes stands as one of the best additions to its library yet, and one of the best games in a year that has so far been full of fantastic games.
As inviting to new players as it is familiar to old, Echoes is far more than a Shadow of Gaiden.
This is decidedly a very classic feeling Fire Emblem, with enough freshness to captivate even veterans of the franchise and comes with a welcome accessibility that makes it the easiest for newcomers to get into. This entry goes to show that there's room within the franchise to make different looking Fire Emblem entries that still feel true to the series but which also dare to not only tread new ground, but to do so in a great way. It's a well rounded package that is well balanced to please the majority of its audience, like the entire trilogy of Fire Emblem Fates before it, but while keeping it all confined to just one game with the complete epic story being accessible just from buying this one piece of software instead of it being spread out, and that's something to be thankful for. Overall, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, while feeling like an older entry, might very well be moving the series forward in certain aspects that could potentially return in future outings.
The game felt somewhat on the easier side and the dungeons could've had a little more to do. Those are minor things in a journey that doesn't slow down from start to finish. If you're here to be enchanted, Fire Emblem Echoes delivers in spades.
A great swan song game for Fire Emblem on the 3DS
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia might be a complete remake of the Famicom’s Fire Emblem Gaiden released in 1992 but to western fans this is a completely new chapter in the Fire Emblem series that cannot be missed.
After looking to their past, Intelligent System has made a daring strike forward. The result is a resounding strategy experience, with Shadows of Valentia not only delivering a sensational remake but one of the greatest tales that the Fire Emblem series has ever told.
Overall, Shadows of Valentia delivers a new personal favorite Fire Emblem game. There are a lot of additions I would love to see return in the Nintendo Switch entry, and there was never a time I found myself frustrated, and wanting to put the game down. This game is an excellent last hoorah for the series on 3DS. The future looks even brighter for this franchise.
All in all, I quite enjoyed how Echoes brought Fire Emblem back to its roots. While I have enjoyed recent forays in the series, this felt more like the Fire Emblem I grew up playing. For $39.99, you get a ton of content, and that’s not even taking into account the DLC, which I didn’t sample in order to keep my experience more pristine. There’s a lot of replay value as well, with optional quests aplenty and many hidden memory prisms which unlock more lore. It’s also a long adventure, as my final playtime with the game was just short of 40 hours, longer individually than either Awakening or Fates. While not everyone will appreciate the hardcore emphasis of the game, I feel it’s a great sendoff for the Nintendo 3DS, which has done so much for the series. Now I just have to patiently await the next great adventure in Intelligent System’s fantastic tactical RPG saga.
Straightforward and sophisticated Strategy, which feels surprisingly fresh thanks to many new ideas and despite many well-known-mechanics.
Review in German | Read full review
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia launched on 3DS here in America back on May 19th. The latest entry into the Fire Emblem Series is actually a full remake / re-imagining (whatever you prefer to call it) of Fire Emblem Gaiden. Gaiden was released back in 1992 on the Famicom (Japanese NES) and the game was only available in Japan until 2009 when the game was released on the Wii Virtual console albeit still only in Japan.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is an excellent strategy role-playing game with thrilling tactical turn-based combat with some gameplay omissions which may split the existing fanbase.
I'm already looking forward to replaying the scores of missions I'd already completed, this time with an aim to doing things a little differently and maybe saving some lives. And if my eager anticipation to replay a big chunk of a game I just played isn't a recommendation, I'm not sure what is.
This might be the most well-rounded and best Fire Emblem game on 3DS. It's a good enough reason to put the Switch down and dust off Nintendo's dual screen wonder.
On the one hand Shadow of Valentia takes us back in time, paying homage to the golden age of JRPG, on the other hand the new gameplay features give a more modern feel to it. Shadow of Valentia is an atypical Fire Emblem that differentiates itself from the franchise in order to give a fresh approach to the genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
It's funny how a remake of a game that never originally hit the West can feel like such a step forward. There are a couple questionable choices, like the removal of the weapons triangle, and series purists might grumble over some other changes like dungeon exploration, but overall Shadows of Valentia feels like the next great step in Fire Emblem.
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 worthy entry to the series and a great way to hold you over until Fire Emblem comes out on the Switch, despite some questionable DLC policies.