Story: B + / A -
Shadows of Valentia improved and expanded on the simple structure of the original. It added more scenes that emotionally impact the viewer and it added explanations to certain things that needed it. For example, one of the reasons why I didn’t appreciate Rudolf was because the original game didn’t explain certain elements of his plan. For example, why was it that Alm had to be trained by Mycen in a random village in Zofia instead of being trained by Rudolf? Why did Rudolf start the war with Zofia in the first place? Why did it have to be Alm that was the hero? Couldn’t Rudolf have defeated Duma in the first place?
Stuff like that bothered me whenever I thought about Rudolf’s plan, but now I don’t have to worry about it since Shadows of Valentia provided explanations to all these questions. While I do think that some of them could have been better there’s at least an explanation now that satisfied my curiosity enough to where I can say that Rudolf is an excellent antagonist.
I noticed early on in the story that a major theme of this game is “nobility” and the extent to which one clings to their ideals and how that impacts their decisions. Fernand and Berkut represent this since nobility is a big deal to them. Nobility plays into their worldview and how they treat others. Fernand betrays the Deliverance because he refuses to be led by a “commoner” (which is ironic given that Alm is the crown prince of Rigel, but to be fair almost nobody knew that at the time).
Berkut by contrast is more aggressive and constantly feels the need to prove himself on the battlefield. Strength is the measure of one’s worth and a noble must be strong. What’s interesting is how the narrative of the game flips this worldview on its head. Each defeat leaves Berkut more desperate to please his uncle and satisfy his pride as a ruler. As Berkut’s noble status gets increasingly threatened his pride diminishes with it to the point where when it’s revealed that he no longer will succeed Rudolf Berkut is willing to give up everything (including his beloved Rinea) in order to get back everything he believes is lost. I loved this element of his character, because he also shows the dark side of pride and just how dangerous it is to build one’s sense of self worth on fleeting things like position and strength. He comes across as a tragic villain in spite of being born with a “silver spoon in his mouth”. He’s a different kind of villain than what we normally see in a Fire Emblem game and he adds an interesting dynamic to the narrative.
There’s also Alm’s ideals about why he’s fighting. Like many anime protagonists Alm just wants to protect the ones that he loves (this is a recurring motivation among anime protagonists). He doesn’t care as much about power and ruling others. Celica is this way too. Then you have Rudolf’s ideals. You could say that he’s a big believer in mankind’s self reliance and abhors having to rely upon the gods for help. This plays a huge role in the plot as he attempts to undermine both Mila and Duma respectively.
Overall: Shadows of Valentia built upon the simple structure of the original’s story and improved upon it making this game one of the better stories in the Fire Emblem series.
Characters: A
Another major improvement on the original was the characterization. The limitations of the Nintendo console prevented Gaiden from providing the type of characterization to its cast that modern games could accomplish. Shadows of Valentia improved this. Most of the characters were likable and there are already several of them that have made it into my “Favorite Fire Emblem Characters” list. I think my three favorite characters from this game were Mae, Gray and Tobin. Mae is so wonderfully upbeat and hyper combined with an endearing confidence that made it impossible not to love her. Also she had some of the best lines of dialogue in the game. “Sure, I’m still hyper. LET’S GO!” or how about her sick burn of Boey: “What’ve you got, fire? Maybe I’ll call you if I want to roast marshmallows”. Or her reactions to getting a good level-up or killing enemies. #MaeisBae
Some of the best moments in Shadows of Valentia were Gray and Tobin’s bromance. Holy cow! These two had an awesome dynamic. I loved their interactions together, their humorous moments were actually funny and they came across as relatable bros that you could hang out with. I would totally hang out with these guys if they were real people.
Almost every member of the playable cast was likable and easy to get emotionally invested in. They felt human, relatable and they the right element of quirkiness to them. The writing was a significant upgrade from Fates and Awakening. It was neat for example whenever they’d congratulate each other after one character killed an enemy or if they’d tell each other to get healed if they barely came out of a battle alive they’d tell each other to heal their wounds. Other characters who were cool: Saber, Leon, Mathilda, Clive, Lukas, Palla, Catria, Kamui.
I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of the supports in this game. Not saying that they’re bad, it’s just that I didn’t feel like I learned anything about the characters that the game’s story didn’t already tell me. The quality of the supports is somewhat middle of the road. They’re better than the supports in Fates and Awakening but they’re not quite up to par with Path of Radiance or Blazing Sword. The extra conversations whenever you visit Mila’s Shrine or the villages made up for this which is why I still feel like the characterization was pretty good.
The only characters I didn’t like were Faye and Celica. Faye feels like a Fates / Awakening character in a game where everyone else is better written than that. It got super annoying really fast at how often she fawned over Alm. I’m pretty sure that Alm could do the most mundane task such as eating a sandwich and she’d still find a way to get wet over that. Actually now that I think about it a more likely scenario is for her to get on her knees and beg Alm for the privilege of being able to make him the sandwiches. It certainly doesn’t help when she says things like “I’m done drinking tea and now I’m ready to kill in your name”. Then there’s her support Silque which was all kinds of frustrating.
Then there’s Celica, the one character whose personality got a downgrade from her original counterpart. It’s all well and good for her to seek a non-violent solution to everything that’s happened but the way the story presents it makes her come across as preachy, naive, idiotic and hypocritical. Her reaction to Alm when they meet up at the end of Part 2 is a prime example of this. Accusing Alm of wanting to take over the throne and then acting as if he’s somehow in the wrong was bafflingly stupid. Celica had no evidence to suggest that Alm would try to take over the throne and even if he was planning on it that would still be a huge upgrade to what they previously had so what’s her problem? Another issue I take with this is that she somehow believes that Alm is wrong for overthrowing a corrupt ruler while killing an evil pirate king is somehow more justified. When Alm wrecks mooks it’s bad, but when she does it’s okay. Yeah, that’s not a double standard at all.
Willingly sacrificing herself to Duma and trusting Jedah was also pretty moronic. When Jedah lies to her at the end about the good her sacrifice would do I just sat there facepalming at how surprised Celica was. What? An obviously evil smurf who’s trying to sacrifice your soul would lie to you? NO WAY! WHAT A TWIST! Not telling her companions was also a really stupid move on her part as well. Congratulations Celica, you are now one of my least favorite Fire Emblem protagonists.
Overall: With the exception of Faye and Celica these characters are awesome! This one of the most memorable Fire Emblem casts I’ve witnessed. Their interactions were great and it was easy to stay emotionally invested in their struggles. This cast is up there with Holy War and Path of Radiance in terms of overall excellence, memorability and easiness to get attached to.
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