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Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Review


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593ab417dcc01_FireEmblemEchoesboxart.png.6de1278a5f040b5b36b2623e2938363c.pngWhen Fire Emblem finally made its international debut in 2003 with the GBA game, it was actually the seventh game in a series already well regarded in Japan. For several years American players didn't have a chance to play those earlier six games, until Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, a remake of the first game, released on the DS in 2009. It's been close to a decade since then but Nintendo has finally treated its international Fire Emblem fans to another taste of those early strategy adventures with Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, a remake of the second game in the series, Fire Emblem Gaiden. Shadows of Valentia isn't just a glimpse into the history of Fire Emblem though. Similar to Zelda II this sequel deviated from several of the features from the first game that would go on to become series norms. Shadows of Valentia retains most of these quirks while adding new features familiar to modern players to make one of the more unusual but just as captivating Fire Emblem games.
 
The basic story of Valentia my seem familiar for anyone that has played a previous Fire Emblem game: the two nations of Rigel and Zofia are fundamentally opposed to one another in ideology, and when a coup kills the king of Zofia a war erupts on the continent of Valentia. There's more intrigue at play here though with missing royal heirs, as well as a missing goddess. It's a fine backdrop for a Fire Emblem story made better by a strong cast of characters. Alm and Celica share the spotlight as the key protagonists, and despite a childhood friendship find themselves on separate quests across Valentia. Their interactions with one another and the rest of the cast prove compelling, especially since there are essentially two armies in the game (Alm's and Celica's) so it doesn't feel like there are as many fluff characters as you might encounter in past Fire Emblems. The characters have a realistic amount of depth in their support conversations–after C level at least, many of which are oddly abrupt–and by the final plot twists of the game it's easy to care for all of them.
 
593ab4349b29d_FireEmblemEchoesforecast.jpeg.4e1216dac0e22fe1d20f8a30b4a0c43f.jpegAs mentioned Shadows of Valentia retains many of the unique features of the original Gaiden. One of the more significant ones is dungeon exploration, where you can explore small caves and shrines to find treasure and battle monsters (battles are in the traditional strategy map grid). It feels strange for a Fire Emblem game at first, but it's a novel feature and a fun change of pace. The enemies within these dungeons are generally push-overs and you can get advantage on them before the battle by striking them, which makes them ideal for training weak units. On the other hand these battles can be so easy at times that it feels like you're wading through battle fodder, which can be fatiguing–literally, in this game's case. The fatigue system is brought back from Thracia 776, so when you use one unit a lot in battle they might tire out which causes their stats to drop. It's pretty much a non-issue in Shadows of Valentia though. For one, fatigue isn't a serious factor in normal battles, so it only has an effect in dungeons. For two, although fatigue carries over from one battle to the next, fatigue accrues slowly (thanks to the easy battles) and it is extremely easy to recover fatigue with healing items. Fatigue isn't the fun novelty that dungeon exploration is, but neither is it a weight on the player.
 
Shadows of Valentia also lacks the familiar weapon triangle that has been a staple of the series for years (although the weapon triangle was not in Gaiden either). This is another feature that can feel jarring to veteran players, especially since it is mostly noticeable on weaker units who no longer have the crutch of a small boost to hit rate. Aside from the fact that your units' hit rate will be lower than average for other games you'll probably forget about the lack of a weapon triangle after the first few maps. More interesting is the weapon system itself in Shadows of Valentia, where weapons are equipped as items and you can only have one at a time. Weapons don't break, and after a unit repeatedly uses a weapon they'll learn an art–a special attack. Arts are an interesting addition; they're not useful in every situation since you can't attack twice with the majority of them, but every so often you need just a little extra power to finish off an enemy and arts become a valuable asset. And since you can't carry multiple weapons like other games, arts can sometimes fill the role of a different weapon, like adding +1 to your attack range. The downside is you don't get to keep the art if you change weapons, but Shadows of Valentia does have a weapon forge so you can improve weapons to keep them useful. It's a new way of planning out how best to equip your army for a Fire Emblem game, and although equipping only one weapon seems more simple there is still a satisfying degree of forethought necessary.
 
593ab44e31808_FireEmblemEchoesmap.jpeg.1595af5a2c32e2e9a7590669e19a7b07.jpegAnother surprising quirk of Shadows of Valentia and Gaiden is that magic requires health to cast, and the more powerful the magic the more costly it is. At first this system sounds kind of crazy, especially for a strategy game where making sure you have just enough health to survive the enemy's turn can sometimes be crucial. It definitely adds another layer to how you lay your plans. Mages end up feeling particularly delicate, especially if their maximum health isn't high to begin with. But as with everything in Fire Emblem it's manageable with a little strategic planning, especially since there are several spells that have a range of 3, so it's easy to keep mages out of the line of fire. And more importantly, magical attacks are far too valuable in this game to recoil at the sight of a few lost hit points. Resistance seems to be the dump stat of choice for just about every enemy type–and your own characters as well–so a good mage is worth the calculated risk.
 
Easily the most useful oddity of Shadows of Valentia is Mila's Turnwheel, a feature entirely unique to this game. Every Fire Emblem player has had a moment that they wish they could undo, whether it's a character's death, a bad level-up, or a rage-inducing miss despite a 92% chance to hit. If the result was truly unforgivable players would routinely restart the entire battle, sometimes losing an hour or more of time. With Mila's Turnwheel players can turn back time by a single move or more to correct these mistakes. This can be hugely valuable, though there's a limit on the number of uses you have in a single battle (or a single dungeon) which prevents it from being completely overpowered. Of course, die-hard traditionalists can just ignore it, but for players that don't mind the game taking a bit of pity on them a bad move no longer has to be a catastrophic one.
 
593ab4658e1ef_FireEmblemEchoesdungeon.jpeg.9c3c30951d8c853375ac6448310cfa7b.jpegOf course, not every preserved quirk of the original Gaiden is necessarily to Shadows of Valentia's credit. Most notably the map design is a bore. And not just in the sense of uninteresting designs or repetitive objectives (most are rout the enemy), but annoying designs such as huge fields with one funnel that requires you to slowly move characters through. Enemy armies aren't always the most interesting either, with small numbers and little variety. Battles within dungeons are perhaps understandably simple, but even many of the main story battles tend to be surprisingly uncomplex. There is a bit of a feeling of quantity over quality battles in Shadows of Valentia. That's not to say the game is easy. There are still challenging moments, and perhaps the biggest challenge is the abysmal growth rates of most characters, which really makes the lack of a weapon triangle sting. Hit percentages can seem almost comically low, oftentimes not worth the risk in a different Fire Emblem game. None of this makes Shadows of Valentia too frustrating per se, but overall the core map and battle design of Gaiden could have used a bit of an overhaul for this remake.
 
It's a Fire Emblem game so there's nothing fancy to learn about the controls–just about the only noteworthy aspect is that the N3DS c-stick is useful for camera control while exploring dungeons. Speaking of N3DS, Shadows of Valentia also supports amiibo. Any amiibo can be used to summon a random ally for one turn, or a Fire Emblem amiibo can summon that specific character (i.e. a Marth amiibo summons Marth). The only problem is that summoning an ally not only costs Alm's or Celica's turn, it costs them 10HP. This has a weird catch-22 effect for amiibo usefulness: having an extra unit would be most beneficial in early maps, but those are the times when losing 10HP would be the biggest problem. Conversely, by the time that health isn't as much of a concern you probably wouldn't have much use for an amiibo fighter, especially at the expense of Alm or Celica attacking directly. amiibo rarely have a profound effect on any game anyway though so it's not a huge loss having the amiibo in this game be only quasi useful.
 
593ab47acefa9_FireEmblemEchoesbattle.jpeg.7aaa3de1fa7913540838598e1386519d.jpegMore importantly, Shadows of Valentia released alongside its own amiibo, one for Alm and one for Celica. In addition to being quite nicely detailed the amiibo unlock bonus dungeons with challenging enemies that, once defeated, drop valuable items and weapons. On one hand it's a nice boon for anyone dedicated enough to buy yet more amiibo, but it still would have been nice if the bonus dungeons had been more like real dungeons, with twists and turns to explore. Instead these are pretty much just a series of battles, and although the rewards are great the dungeons are a bit bland.
 
Finally we come to the visual and aural features of Shadows of Valentia which are, perhaps surprisingly, pretty great. Obviously there is not much room for visual design in a grid-based strategy game, and even the newly rendered 3D dungeons lack panache, but the character design in this game is beautiful. The colors have a blown out, softer style that gives the game a misty, ethereal look that is captivating. Perhaps it is simply the change of pace from the past two Fire Emblem games but the character art looks great, plus you get to see it more often since while you are in villages you can see full body portraits of random characters. And although there aren't many cutscenes they don't look half bad either, though they don't leave nearly as much of an impression. The game's visuals are complemented by a quality soundtrack and excellent voice work. Part of the charm of many of the characters comes from their lively voice acting which does a great job of bringing out their personalities.
 
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia straddles the line between old and new, creating an experience wholly unique and yet still recognizably Fire Emblem. The many quirks of Gaiden may still seem bizarre now, 25 years later, but they have a fun value in their own way, and are a good reminder that even beloved franchises deserve some wiggle room to experiment with new features. Speaking of which, the new features for this remake help keep the game accessible even to inexperienced players, and builds up on some of the areas where the original game was lacking. Outside of the unfortunate retention of uninspired map design Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a fantastic and fantastically unusual turn-based strategy adventure.
 

Rating: 9 out of 10 Emblems

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