Fire Emblem Awakening is a traditional game that can have some aspects of Game-for-Change and somewhat advertainment. Fire Emblem Awakening is a survival and strategical based game where you, the tactician, must find a way to bring about peace to the world, and prevent the world from being succumb into total chaos by an evil dragon. An advertainment or advergame is a game that is used for advertising rather than just entertainment, but there are also those advertainment games in which the game is advertised in other games or mini-films. In this case, Fire Emblem characters were advertised in other games such as Super Smash Bros Melee and Super Smash 4. Another reason it may be considered an advertainment is because the game is what lead a renew fondness for the Fire Emblem games as Awakening contained all what was good about the Fire Emblem games. Game-for-Change is known for serious games that lead to the world becoming a better place. Fire Emblem Awakening is also a bit of Game-for-Change because while the beginning starts off the premonition where you as the tactician kill one of the main characters named Chrom, but afterwards you wake up to see Chrom along with other characters. You are back to the past where the world is nice, yet unfortunately, this does not last long. From there, the characters have to fight evil and try to defend their country and making a better place for themselves. Along the way, a character from the future, who is the future daughter of Chrom, appears in order to warn Chrom and you of what is to come if the evil dragon, Grima, is reborn, so everyone and you must work in order to stop Grima. This game is the thirteenth game in the Fire Emblem Series. Though the premise of stopping an evil dragon from creating chaos is found in every fire emblem game, there is a profound difference in every Fire Emblem game. Every game has a specific list of characters that are specific to their stories. There is always new characters, new qualities to the game and different story. In Fire Emblem Fates, there are actually different paths to follow depending on a decision you make at the beginning of the game where you must either choose for you to stick with your blood related family, the family that kidnapped you, or to not choose a side. This decision, regardless of choice, still leads to a war, but the way everything pans out depends on the choice you make. In Fire Emblem Echoes, you change from the male and female protagonist instead of choosing a gender. The idea of weapon durability is scrapped in Fates, so a weapon can be used an endless number of times without breaking unless you are using a healing weapon.
Fire Emblem is a game where you both command and fight alongside an army of brave heroes. This is a game where you must destroy the enemy that can destroy complete empires. This Tactical Role-Playing Game can be a Strategy, Adventure, and Action game as well. Being a tactical game, the characters set out on a journey to try and save the world. The opening movie for Fire Emblem Awakening displays a good story and makes you feel various emotions that will only increase throughout the game. The game itself is gorgeous and one of the best on the system. The anime look is a stylish look without it having a sense of it being flamboyant. The 3D models are brilliantly animated, and the presentation is also complimented by sprite-based animation to make the 3D effect possible. Due to some limitations, the sprites do not have feet, but the game itself is still a marvelous game and has a very stunning presentation that includes stylish anime inspired cutscene with a lively CG animation. Beyond the cutscenes, the battles that take place are also great to watch.
The story in Awakening starts off with a premonition where you seem like a good person, but you end up killing the good guy, and then the premonition ends with evil laughter. The prologue begins in which your created avatar wakes up within the company of a group call the Shepherds. This group of soldiers protect the citizens of the kingdom Ylisse. The player is a naturally gifted tactician and although the player’s memories are hazy, he/she assists them by using prowess to “even out the odds.” This moment of “Robin’s” strategist skills being revealed is significant to later plots and theme creations. A primary theme within this narrative is that friendship is a very powerful force that it can have the power to rewrite a future where does lurk in the shadow but everywhere. The idea of this theme is shown many times throughout the gameplay and story.
The story level and action level come together because the story is based on that of the battles the characters are facing. While the story progresses with battles, the action itself is tactical and characters are either pair up to help one another or singled out so that the characters can build up their narratives. Stories that bring about character development come from your actions within the dialogue. You shape the story through the actions that you make. The action level is that of the battles taking place and the side quests like the paralogues. An example of how both the story and action levels work well is when the characters are being paired up in the action levels can result in support which can later lead to marriage and will open a paralogue. Not only marriage is to come from the supports, but the support conversations help with character development. In this case, the support has levels from C to S, where C is the basic and S depending on gender is where the male character can propose to the female character, or if the characters are the same gender, then the level goes to A where it is simply a more tight bond of friendship. When two characters marry, a paralogue is opened, and in the paralogue, the child of the couple appears.
Although these games hold similarities, they differ in various ways. First off, the story from each game is a different story and contains a whole new set of characters. Each story has a specific set of characters to it as well. In Awakening, Chrom is courageous, yet goofy. Fredrick is the serious knight that you can poke on every now and then. Robin (you) is involved more in the story than one presumes. The Plegia antagonists are terrifying and malicious beings that want to destroy Ylisse. In Fates, it is a set of games and you start off with a certain story depending on the path you choose. There is Hoshido, Nohr, or neither. The enemies end up being your siblings depending on who you chose to betray. There is a true ending of the game which is Revelation, the path of choosing neither family, but the game in general seems to try too hard to mimic Awakening. In Shadows of Valentia, the story is a bit more darker and grittier. While there is a war going on in these three games, but Valentia shows the horrors of war itself and the hardships brought to the people. This is a gruesome story of love, friendship, and death. The game’s musical score is phenomenal. Each tune perfectly fits the situation it is being used in. As the game is broken into chapters, each chapter somewhat has a certain soundtrack playing. Each soundtrack has a special feeling tied to it because it reflects the situation in the game at that time. The “prepare track” is an important track for every game out there. In this case, this track must have an exciting and thought-provoking feeling. The soundtrack achieves it by having a hip beat to it.
In the game there are various influences. For example, medieval times is a huge part of influence for the game. This is important because the story itself has a medieval touch to it since there are various wars going on. Another example is how Chon’sin is a reference of Japanese culture. Ylisse is an example of medieval Europe. Some characters may have also been influenced by other cultures. Rosanne may seem a bit French-inspired and Virion seems to be “maid”-themed servant. There are 12 dead lords that one faces in the story and it can be referenced to that of King Arthur and the 12 Knights. With Fire Emblem Awakening, there have been many cultural influences from the game that have influenced various cultural traits within culture itself. For example, Japanese cultural differences influenced Nintendo’s treatment toward homosexuality. For many players, it stirred a large response due to marriage only being heterosexual. Nintendo then responded with this by introducing two characters that are bisexual in Fire Emblem Fates. These characters are Niles and Rhajat and you can marry them to your player. Another influence could be that of how there is the formation of a family at some point. This shows that there is a family culture to it because it shows that family values do exist. Fire Emblem Awakening is a combination of both Instrumental and Expressive productive play. It is a combination of both because this game has walkthroughs, forums, and fan-fiction.
For Fire Emblem Awakening, I would say that in my opinion, I love the game. The game starts with the thought that you may indeed be the bad guy, and that you built to have bonds with the people you will soon betray, but you are mistaken. You are the savior, and the end gives you the decision to either sacrifice yourself to forever rid the world of the evil dragon named Grima and hope that the next set of heroes are up to beat Grima. I built a fondness for most characters and the story. I would honestly recommend this game for new players who know nothing of Fire Emblem, and then progress to the other Fire Emblem Games. The story is a rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, and the characters are well-developed for me to produce such emotion. I love the character I am, and the idea of changing the look and my abilities as a tactician is amazing. The idea of weapon durability leads me to think wisely of what I use and wait as my weapons can break, and if I am not prepared, then my comrades are open for death. The difficulty can range from easy to hard, as well as a setting where when one of your comrades die during battle, the comrade is dead forever. The fact that you are warned by a future traveler is interesting, and the fact that through your hard work, you can prove yourself as the good guy. I love the game’s story, characters, and graphics. The game now holds a special place in my heart in terms of gaming, and after playing once, I had to play another time. I fully recommend anyone to play Fire Emblem Awakening.