Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Part 1 - The Presentation

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Did I like it? Absolutely! Did it surpass my expectations? In some ways yes and in other ways no. This game is a massive improvement over the original which is good because as many of you know I’m not a big fan of the original. Most of its problems stemmed from the limitations in the old school Nintendo console. Now that Shadows of Valentia is on the 3DS, which is a modern console at the time that I’m writing this, those limitations are gone. So let’s begin.

“Presentation”:                                                            A +

                 

• Artwork:  As many others noticed when this game was first coming out, the artwork for this game is spectacular. Each character design stands out and tells you what you need to know about each of the characters. In addition to that the female characters are pretty without being sexualized in an over the top way. This is a huge deal to me as it means that not all future Fire Emblem games will follow the awful trends set by Awakening and Fates. As of right now this game’s artwork is the best in the series. I really hope this Hidari fellow sticks around to do more artwork for future Fire Emblem installments. Can we at least get him to do the designs for one more Fire Emblem game please?

• Voice Acting:     Another amazing element that this game has going for it is the voice acting. Shadows of Valentia, in my opinion, has the best voice acting in the Fire Emblem franchise to date. As others have pointed out the voice acting breathes life into each of the characters, making it easier to feel like you’re watching human beings across the screen. I liked the incorporation of voice acting into the game. Having dialogue whenever you select a character was a neat addition to the game. Having them speak whenever they either dodged an attack, got hurt or finished off an enemy was fun to witness. I also liked the characters reactions to their level ups too. In fact some of their reactions were similar to mine. If they got a + 1 most of them were like “what was that?” or if it was a + 4 they’d be like “yeah I’m awesome / blessed”. It’s little things that this that make a huge difference when it comes to characterization.

• Battle Animations:   The battle animations are also great stuff too. When I normally play Fire Emblem games I play with the animations off. In this game I played with them on the entire time. I love the fact that the characters begin the animations already running at their enemies. This helps speed up the fights and keeps them engaging. The dodge animations are also superb, making the fights feel dynamic.  If a character takes only one damage it’s animated as if they blocked the attack, once again making the fights look dynamic. I also really like how if a character is about to finish their enemies off they do a fancy attack. Shoutout to Scendscale for being a giant sword beam to come crashing down on enemy mooks. The only complaints I have are that magic animations are nothing special and that the way some lances are used look dorky. I’m not talking about the halberds, I’m talking about the lances that only have a pointy end and yet get used like their swords. It’s a nitpick more than anything else but it is there.

      Overall Shadows of Valentia raised the bar for artwork, voice acting and battle animations. I’m probably going to be comparing future Fire Emblem installments to this game in terms of these categories because this game is just so good and it would feel like a step backwards if future installments didn’t have voice acting, battle animations and artwork on this level.

Soundtrack:                                                             A+

   Holy crap! This game’s soundtrack is easily in the Top 3 Best Fire Emblem OST’s. Almost every track is memorable and conveys emotion in a powerful way. Mila’s Divine Protection from the original was already a fantastic tune but this game managed to make it even better currently producing the greatest rendition of this song. The theme at the end of the game is also incredibly epic. Other stand out tracks include, but are not limited to:

• The Sacrifice and the Saint:

• What Lies At the End:

• Twilight of the Gods:

• A Song for Bygone Days:

• The Dauntless Blade:

                     And I could keep going. This game has no shortage of amazing tunes. I’ll probably find myself repeatedly listening to this game’s soundtrack like I do with the soundtracks of Holy War and the Tellius games. It took the best tracks of the original and improved upon it while adding plenty of wonderful tunes of its own. This game is a treat to listen to.