Fire Emblem: Awakening Critic Reviews

Tactical turn-based combat is something that some won't be able to get past no matter what. As long as that isn't you, Awakening is arguably the best game you can get on the 3DS, sure to be one of the best this year, and a must-play from just about every conceivable angle.

A game worth buying a 3DS for.

From a gameplay experience this feels like a greatly refined version of the last few titles, with a boost in presentation to push the franchise even further. 3DS owners will be doing themselves a favor by picking this up.

Strategy role-playing at its finest, Fire Emblem: Awakening marries sophistication and character development in a way rarely found in the genre.

Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have re-awakened the Fire Emblem series in top form, merging its story and tactical combat as a masterful accomplishment for strategy RPGs.

Imagine if any other big franchise took absolutely all the best elements from its previous instalments, bundled them together, and - as if that wasn't enough - threw plenty of even more excellent ideas into the mix for good measure! Well, if your mind already set itself to work on finding a single example of this in recent memory, look no further...Fire Emblem: Awakening - the prime example of this!

This is a special game. The kind that makes you stop and think for a long time about whether it's ever been done better.

Intelligent Systems has produced some fine games for Nintendo over the years; Awakening can proudly sit next to fellow strategy gem Advance Wars as the studio’s best work to date.

Fire Emblem Awakening is a truly absorbing experience; a game which can make you fist-pump in victory and shout in horror as you watch zombie archers pick off your last Pegasus knight, all while you plan on how you’ll do it all better next time. And for what is essentially a board game-type RPG where little men and women run around a grid, that is pretty damn impressive.

Overall, the game is a wonderfully presented experience and the best game that the 3DS has to offer.

Best of all, the new Casual mode opens the series up to those who may have been put off by its characteristic difficulty, ensuring that newcomers and veterans alike will be able to get the same enjoyment out of Awakening’s storyline.

A great turn-based strategy game surpassing not only its blood-related predecessors but step-brothers and step-sisters of the Advance Wars series as well. Fire Emblem: Awakening is the new benchmark of the genre that is practically uncriticizable. At the moment on Nintendo 3DS there is not a better alternative.

Fire Emblem: Awakening if by far one of the best games on the 3DS. Whether you’re a long-time Fire Emblem fan or a newcomer to tactical RPGs, this is a game that anyone can get into and enjoy. If you don’t have a 3DS yet, this could be the game to change that.

Fire Emblem: Awakening tells a simple, yet gripping and heartfelt story told through characters that feel as real as family members.

Fire Emblem Awakening is the most fluid and stunning strategy RPG experience available on a portable, and features the best storytelling and production value of any 3DS game to date.

Fire Emblem: Awakening is just perfect. Some absolutely minor flaws do not even undermine the most enthralling, enjoyable and satisfying trip in the beloved world of the titular red herring.

With a strong homage to the games before it and the inclusion of new gameplay plus 3D, Fire Emblem: Awakening ticks all the right boxes and creates a thoroughly entertaining turn based tactical RPG that not only challenges the player but is also quite fun to play.

The battle system is as mathematically complex as ever, the added relationship system can suck up countless hours, and the final handful of missions is absolute hell for anyone playing on Traditional Mode. Still, an olive branch is extended to newcomers, who can turn off the more imposing features while being met with helpful tutorials and impeccable production value.

Simply put, this is the best game we've seen on 3DS.

This is just the best 3DS game so far. Deep, beautiful, replayable, challenging... It's one of those games you cannot miss.