Fire Emblem Heroes Critic Reviews

The graphics look amazing on Retina screens, the artwork for characters and battle sprites is well-done, the music and voice acting is incredible, and the controls for combat feel much more intuitive on touch screens. The game is also pretty generous with giving you the premium currency at a steady pace, but you can also purchase more if need be. The story is fairly captivating and there are plenty of other modes to keep you busy for a while, and overall the game is great for both newbies and veterans alike.

This is Nintendo’s best mobile effort yet.

What I do know is that right now, whenever I have a moment, I’m playing this game and I’m enjoying it immensely. Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, and DeNA have succeeded on two fronts here: not only have they crafted a mobile game that is fine in its own right, but they’ve also made one that absolutely makes me want to play the next proper entry in the Fire Emblem franchise.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a surprisingly fun and fair entry in the series well worth a look.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a great game that succeeds in retaining the core essence of the franchise. It offers a fantastic yet simple gameplay that is easy to understand and mechanics and modes that will maintain entertained even the most hardcore fans from the series. The sad part of it is that it limits its experience with a questionable business model that, sooner or later, ends up pressing the player into buying items and things with high prices. If you can tolerate that, then you will find in FEH an enjoyable title.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a very nice turn based strategy game for mobile users.

A successful free-to-play game that manages to retain almost everything that made this franchise relevant. The issue is that: almost did it.

Fire Emblem Heroes is a streamlined experience that is made for mobile and it doesn't shy away from that fact. It’s the closest thing Fire Emblem has to a bite-sized experience. Don't expect a lot of depth or difficulty from Heroes, but they did make some fine compromises. It helps that it plays wonderfully on a smart device and that the amount of content here is impressive. With 45 main missions (and counting) and a host of other features, they want to continue welcoming people with open arms. The story is really the biggest bummer of the experience. It was a neat idea to bring the Fire Emblem worlds together, but they never really embrace it. That is strange, considering they gave all the characters voices and unique art. The characters still drive forward what this is free-to-play mobile game is all about, and that is gameplay.

Fire Emblem Heroes is - as promised - a small game that is supposed to invite you to try the big, full version. After many hours of fun I can say that it worked! I'd like some more Emblem, please. This kind of approach to mobile gaming is worth replicating.

This is not the Fire Emblem you know, though the strategic fights, characters and bizarre music are still there. This is a game that seems simpler, but will make it for the long haul.

With a winning combo of exciting, familiar gameplay and diverse content, Fire Emblem Heroes manages to do what none of its predecessors have succeeded at: It gets me invested in mobile gaming, to the point where I'm almost willing to indulge in the platform's most insidious capitalist tricks. Almost.

Do not worry of F2P model and micro-transactions. Yes, they are here, and after some time they start to bite, but you can play Fire Emblem Heroes very well without paying. It is a surprisingly complex mix of turn-based strategy and RPG and decent mobile spin-off, for the main series doesn´t need to be ashamed of. Quite the contrary! Nintendo shows everyone how to convert the favorite brand to mobile phones, they don´t upset their existing fans, and even get new ones. Bravo.

If you’re a Fire Emblem fan, seeing those familiar faces intermingle across different eras and stories is kinda cool from a gameplay perspective. If you’ve never played Fire Emblem before, this might be the one of the kindest introductions into the series.

It keeps the good Fire Emblem essence while successfully becoming a free to play game. It might not be a revolutionary or flashy game, but it sure is a solid one.

Sure, it's not the Fire Emblem that we are used to playing on DS and 3DS, but you don’t have to underestimate this mobile version. You'd miss a very nice turn based strategy game.

A free-to-play game ideal for quick matches. The simplified gameplay makes it even more accessible for new fans to try and get into the series.

All of this is well and good. It’s what I’d expect of a Fire Emblem game on any platform, mobile or otherwise. And it’s plenty to keep me playing. For now. But my concern, as already mentioned, is what happens once I start to encounter anything that feels like a payment barrier. And I can see them coming.

Quotation forthcoming.

Fire Emblem Heroes succeeds by relying on tried and tested formulas, but it's held back by the money-hungry nature of its underlying mechanics.

Fire Emblem Heroes is simplified, but certainly a good start when it comes to bringing the series beloved combat to phones and tablets. The flimsy story doesn’t bring any new ideas to the table and the blind-item system can get frustrating when it refuses to give you a competent hero, but the fantastically fun battles and ability to reunite with old Fire Emblem friends from anywhere makes it worth the free download.