Fire Emblem Awakening has an engaging story mode, but doesn't leave out the multiplayer aspects of the game.
Presentation - Fire Emblem Awakening is a combination of a strategy and role playing game. Think of it as a chess game where you move your characters around and try to knock out all the enemies off the stage. However, it is not a free roaming game like The Legend of Zelda and Endless Online. Once your teammates defeat all of the enemies off the stage, you advance to the next stage. So far the game is pretty easy because I selected the casual mode. I'm new to playing Fire Emblem, and it's the first game of the series that I started playing recently.
The single player mode casts of a story about a character who loses his/her memory, and that character helps team up with his/her partners to defeat all of the enemies. The good news is the character that loses his/her memory is your created character. You can create either a male of a female character, give his/her a name, change his/her face, hair style, color, and your very own voice samples. Later on in the story, you'll encounter several famous characters after you SpotPass on your 3DS. Characters like Marth, Ike, and Roy are all part of DLC (downloadable content). However, the one thing that bothers me in Fire Emblem Awakening, is that the only ways to exit out of story mode are to press the home button on the bottom of my 3DS and turn the console off. Why can't I just have the quit button in the pause menu? This is very strange because this game was made by Nintendo corporations.
There is also a multiplayer (up to two players) mode that allows you to team up with your friend against AI opponents, but sadly there is no download play option. Once you StreetPass friends and strangers on their 3DS, you can meet their teams, battle and purchase items from them. I guess that it's another way of competing against friends and strangers online. In SpotPass, you will receive several new maps, items, and teams. Finally, in the internet mode, you are able to buy new maps, but it does require using a broadband internet.
Graphics - The graphics look absolutely amazing on the 3DS. It feels like you're watching some anime while you're viewing the cut scenes in the single player story mode. Everything blends in very well, is also very detailed, and colorful. You can turn up the 3D slider if you want, but don't leave it on for too long because it can give you a headache and may strain your eyes for a while.
Sound - Since I'm new to the Fire Emblem series and not really familiar with the sounds and music, I'm going to be a bit more lenient this time around. So far the music sounds pretty catchy and upbeat. The only Fire Emblem music that I'm actually familiar with is the theme songs from Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl. I haven't heard those theme songs in Fire Emblem awakening yet.
Game play - As I said in the presentation part of the review, the game plays like chess. You move your characters around in a limited direction to encounter up and defeat your enemies one at a time. The movement of course isn't as limited as chess because you can move them further around the stage. There are blue panels on the stage to let you know how far you can move your created character and teammates across the board. The red panels mean that you can't access that far yet.
After you move all of your characters around, one enemy attacks one of your characters. The player and enemy phases rinse and repeat until you defeat them all to advance to the next stage. There is a meter that lets you know how much health you and your enemy have. You can also use special items and heal up your injured teammates before all of their health depletes completely. If one of your partners loses all of his/her health, he/she will be out of the game until you clear the stage that you're currently fighting in. The controls are accurate and responsive without any noticeable issues.
Lasting appeal - A single player story mode, a Double Duel in multiplayer, StreetPassing friends and strangers to fight against, and receiving new maps from SpotPass extends the replay value. However, the lack of a download play option means that your friend has to own the copy of the game.
The Good - engaging single player story mode, Double Duel mode in multiplayer, competing against friends and strangers from StreetPass extends the replay value
The Bad - still no download play option, no way to exit out of story mode in the actual game except for turning off your 3DS and using the home button
Presentation- 8
Graphics- 10
Sound- 10
Game Play- 10
Lasting appeal- 9
Overall 9.4 out of 10 GameSpot score 9.5 out of 10