The Fire Emblem brand has skyrocketed in popularity over the recent years thanks to the success of Fire Emblem Awakening. Since then, Fire Emblem Fates came out just last year in two separate versions, with a third being available via DLC. Then earlier this year, the free-to-play mobile game, Fire Emblem Heroes released. To now, with the release of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. The crazy part? There’s still one more Fire Emblem game planned for release later this year in Fire Emblem Warriors, with the proper next installment in the series currently set to release in 2018. Certainly a good time to be a Fire Emblem fan, and with the release of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, there’s no better time to jump in.

Fire Emblem Echoes: SoV is actually a remake of the second game in the Fire Emblem franchise, Fire Emblem Gaiden for the Famicom. That game never saw release in the west, so this story will be new for many. Since this is based off an older Fire Emblem, several staples for the franchise have been omitted. During the time of the original, the familiar weapon triangle was not present. Adding to this, axes aren’t even an equippable weapon amongst your units. Even recent additions like the popular pairing mechanic where units can pair together on the battlefield and even marry in the game is totally absent. Basically, this is a remake that sticks close to what the original was.

THE GOOD: Not everything is original though and some changes have been made to this update. First off, there’s the look of the game. It fits in line with how the latest installments looked, with some difference in the overall UI design. There’s the addition of support conversations, which are done in the way of older Fire Emblem games, where they occur on the battlefield. There are also opportunities to interact with your units outside of battle in order to dive deeper into their backstories, and even find hidden memory scenes that revolve around the side characters. And while you can’t pair units together, there are benefits that get passed on when certain units are near each other, and this also applies to units that have support ranks together. Also DLC and amiibo support. So not entirely sticking to the original, as some additions have been made that better flesh out the story and its characters.

With the omission of the weapon triangle, battles are back to the basics of attack power and defense/resistance stats determining how much damage is dealt. Attack skills are still present in order to change things up, but things are basic for the most part. Does take away from the overall depth that the other recent FE titles provided, but I don’t feel like it’s an entirely bad thing. I didn’t mind it much and kind of enjoyed the simpler gameplay. Certainly will be a mixed thing for many, but I felt there was still enough there to offer a good strategy experience.

Perhaps the biggest change over the original, and possibly the best in terms of recent Fire Emblem games, is with the game’s overall presentation. Not only does this remake share a similar look to Awakening and Fates, there’s full on voice acting throughout the game. Aside from a couple village NPCs, all characters you encounter in this game actually have a voice attached to them. I was quite shocked at the amount of voice work present in this game. Not only is the quantity huge, but the quality is there alongside it. Definitely one of the best voice works I’ve ever experienced in a game and possibly the best ever for 3DS. It’s so consistently good and well executed. The writing is also well written which really ties this all together. After hearing how well this was presented, I don’t think I can go back to having a limited voiced Fire Emblem game. I will be very disappointed if the next installment didn’t match this. The music is the game is also just as great. Never heard the original themes, but the music featured here sounds fantastic.

The other good points I have are with what’s taken from the original Fire Emblem Gaiden. Mainly the dungeon crawling aspect of the game. You still get the map layout where you move from location to location and get into the occasional battlefield, like traditional FE gameplay. Then there are dungeons that you will enter and these are presented in third-person. You control your character directly and may find chests and breakable objects full of items. There are also enemies walking around that you can hit for small damage, and when you encounter them, you enter a small over-the-top battlefield and play the Fire Emblem you’re used to. This is the key mechanic that set Fire Emblem Gaiden apart from the others and I’m glad they kept it, since it’s an interesting idea.

Next thing they stuck true with is how the story was presented, which is through the perspective of the two main characters. Unlike Fates where you kind of got a retelling of an alternate storyline based on your choice, in SoV you get two different stories within the overall storyline. Even leading two different armies and encountering different armies and situations. You really get that two for one feel with these separate storylines, and it’s really easy to progress one side and to move back to the other and to complete things from each side at whatever pace you like.

THE BAD: I tend to play Fire Emblem in a casual manner and not too stressful like playing the game on the hardest difficulty. Even on normal, the game still offered a good challenge. However, I couldn’t help but notice how tedious some of the map designs were in this game. They actually do stick to the original in this case as well, you can even compare screenshots of the two games and see how identical they are, which is a nice touch. Though, I feel like some changes could have at least been made to improve the experience. There are several great maps, but the unpleasant ones really do stick out. These are heavily designed with limited movement in mind due to the terrain present, forcing your army to move slowly to the enemy. Even maps with units that can endlessly spawn more units as you’re slowly making your way towards them. Does add that element of survival, but it mostly felt repetitive and tedious. With as great as everything else in this game was, the map designs were probably my least favorite of this game.

There’s also the dungeon crawling that I did praise earlier, but my issue is that I would have liked there to be more to it. I like the idea, but felt that more could be done with how it was presented in SoV. For the most part, you’ll be exploring long tunnels and small rooms until you find what you’re looking for. Not much to it, not even some puzzle solving, at least until you reach the final dungeon. So while I did enjoy the uniqueness of it, I did feel some dungeon portions dragged on for a bit because of how lackluster they are in terms of looks and design.

Last complaint is with the story. I enjoyed it for the most part and much of it was due to the great presentation. Unfortunately, it still fell to an issue I’ve had with previous FE games. That’s with how they handle side characters. Like any FE game, you’re gonna come across units you can recruit, but you can also miss them or deny recruiting them if you wish. Due to the optional nature of these characters, they are mostly ignored when it comes to the main story of the game. You do get backstory on them thanks to support conversations and conversations that can be done in towns, even through the hidden memory shards. I just dislike how they’re always not present during the game’s many story segments. They’re in your army, but they offer no reactions to whatever is currently happening as if they don’t exist. Hope to see some effort done to better include these optional characters in later installments instead of just completely ignoring them.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I never played the original Fire Emblem Gaiden, but I’ve seen gameplay portions of it in order to prepare for Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. I have no doubt in my mind that this game does the original justice based on what I’ve seen. Many things kept from the original, while also many additions made to present the game to a new modern audience. Does feel a bit odd to play a new Fire Emblem game without some of the new mechanics recently introduced in the series, but I really enjoyed what is present. The core gameplay is still fun and full of challenge, even without the weapon triangle. Also the presentation and localization of the game is just incredible. I still can’t get over how this game was fully voiced, and with great voice work too. This is truly a great way to get the new fans that jumped in from Awakening and Fates into what Fire Emblem was before, while also giving some insight in what may be in store for the future. Yet another great installment in the Fire Emblem series, and one that old and new fans can enjoy.