Fire Emblem Echoes Preview

Yesterday, thanks to the amazing Adam Roffel and Nintendo Canada, I received a review copy of Fire Emblem Echoes. Since I just started playing the gam, the review for this game is far from ready. That said, I plan to give you all a lot of Fire Emblem Echoes content! Today, I have a preview for you and tomorrow I’ll have the first of my review in-progress articles. What do I think of Fire Emblem Echoes so far? Read on to find out!

Fire Emblem Echoes-Shadows of Valentia is a strategy-rpg like the other games in the Fire Emblem series but it also introduces some new elements to the franchise.

I won’t give any story spoilers in this preview, but I do want to give you a sense of how this game is similar to previous Fire Emblem games and how its different too. Echoes, first and foremost, keeps the same battle system as previous games. You move your character along a grid based environment and when you get close to your enemy, the battle zooms in to give you an up close look at the fight. Its said that if something isn’t broke, you shouldn’t fix it. I’m glad the core battle mechanic of Fire Emblem is the same. It is more addictive then ever here!

There are some small differences in the battles though. The menus in this game are differently designed, though still easy to use. And weapons no longer break in this game! Instead, the longer you keep a weapon, the more special abilities you’ll learn from it. I really love this. I was never a fan of the weapons breaking in the other games. The trade off is that each of your characters can only have one item or weapon at a time, at least so far. I do miss the typical going to a shop to buy items, but these new abilities, or ARTS as they are called, are pretty neat.

There are a lot of the same types of attacks (including magic) from previous games too. From what I’ve played, the early classes are like the other games also. You change classes in a different way from the other Fire Emblem games though. The seals from those games are gone and have been replaced by statues. You can find these statues in dungeons!

Dungeons are a big new addition to Fire Emblem. You still have plenty of regular Fire Emblem maps to fight in, but these dungeons add an exciting bit of variety. The dungeons are fully 3D areas that you can explore! You’ll find pots and barrels to break, treasure chests, and enemies to fight. The enemy encounters will take you into the grid based battles that Fire Emblem fans are used to. However, these battles are usually at a smaller scale than the regular map based battles.

The couple of dungeons I’ve gone into so far were fun to explore, though the grid battles did seem a little repetitive. I kept fighting the same type of enemy in the same bare bones grid area. Even so, there is plenty of reward for fighting these not-so-random encounters.

The battles in dungeons can be avoided, you do see an enemy wandering around, but these battles can be helpful for leveling up characters. Dungeons are definitely good places to find new items and level up a lot. So, basically, any repetition does seem worth it so far. And the dungeons are not the only major difference between this game and the other Fire Emblems.

In other Fire Emblem games, you went to shops via a menu and talked to characters via support conversations or cutscenes. Echoes still has support conversations and cutscenes, however its added a new way to visit towns and other places to the mix. This time around, you can actually explore a town or building and talk to people and find stuff in these areas. The exploration of towns and other places is not handled like the dungeons though.

The best way to describe this exploration of towns/places is to say its like an NES era Adventure game. In those games, you had a static first person perspective, the ability to talk to people in your environment, a search button to find objects in an area, and move button to go to another place. In Echoes, you have all of this. The examine button lets you search a place for food, weapons, and lets your character comment on his surroundings.

There are also plenty of people to talk to and places in each new town or building to move to. I love those old NES era Adventure games and so I’m a huge fan of this way to explore in Fire Emblem Echoes. Without a doubt, this Fire Emblem is a mix of genres and its works really well so far!

I’m enjoying Fire Emblem Echoes a lot. The mix of strategy, rpg, and adventure game is very good. I love all three genres and so I’m extremely addicted to this game. I can’t wait to tell you all more about it!

Tomorrow, I’ll have my first review in-progress for Fire Emblem Echoes and talk about the game’s graphics. Does Echoes look as good as previous Fire Emblem games?! Stay tuned to Gamesreviews.com to find out!