Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valencia (Limited Edition) Review!

One of my favorite game franchises is Fire Emblem. So, when I got a 3DS one of the first games I picked up was a fire emblem game. I also made sure I got one of the limited edition Echoes games when it was announced. The US release comes with some neat collectibles. If you're one of those lucky buggers in the UK you could also get a sweet limited edition t-shirt! (I am super jelly by the way!) Regardless, I'm still pretty pleased with the stuff that was included.

These little pixel art pins are my favorite part of the special edition bundle! That little white bit underneath them is a soundtrack If you're big on game music.

Also included is a pretty nice hard cover art book. It contains lots of cool character and scenery artwork to look through which I always enjoy.

The game itself is a pretty nice combination of new and old Fire Emblem features. While Fates was a fun game in its own right I enjoyed Awakening much more, because it's certainly the most like a traditional Fire Emblem title. Echoes seems to be a mixture of the two, and it certainly adds some interesting features such as the "exploration" feature which is strange for this series, but a pretty enjoyable surprise for me.

Dungeons have been added to the map for you to explore. Inside you'll find enemies who will attack you, and you can also find items to help you on your journey. This is odd for a Fire Emblem game, but not unenjoyable. Searching for items can be pretty fun, and adds a refreshing twist to the game. There are also some areas that are .. less three dimensional. You'll not be able to move here, but simple observe the background for NPCs to talk to, and to find items in the background you can pick up. These will include food items for healing and restoring stamina and some useful weapons as well.

The battles themselves are pretty standard Fire Emblem fare. If you're a fan of the grid based movement and battle system this franchise is known for you won't be disappointed.

Something I don't care for? Your characters can only hold one item. You can either equip a food item for healing or an upgraded weapon. While the weapons do not wear out like in past Fire Emblem games it still gives players a tough choice. One that I'm not particularly fond of. I preferred the item setup for Awakening much more. Not only could you carry healing items and different weapons, but you also had the option to attack an enemy with an alternate weapon if it would've been more strategically beneficial to you. (Providing your character class was capable of using multiple weapon types of course.) While you can still use relationships to up your character's support capabilities now this activity must be done on the battlefield instead of on the preparation screen which I don't much care for.

Overall, the game is very fun, and I'd certainly recommend playing it. However, I will say that Awakening is still my favorite Fire Emblem game available for the 3ds for now. That game was also released with a pretty neat special edition 3DS which I unfortunately do not have. (I opted for the Monster Hunter 3ds instead.) If you own a 3ds, and you've been eyeing the Fire Emblem series I recommend you give it a try.