OK, let me begin this review by saying... THIS NEEDS TO APPEAR IN THE PHILIPPINE GOOGLE PLAY STORE!
*sigh*. Personal rant over...
Last year, I have made a Reader's Review of a strategy RPG known as Phantom of the Kill. For the uninitiated, Phantom of the Kill is basically a clone of another popular SRPG game, known as Fire Emblem, by simply taking the game mechanics in mind. While PotK has some unique features that have made the game unique, I just can't help but feel... odd about it, for a lack of a better term.
Is it probably because that I am more familiar with Fire Emblem already? Well, that can already serve as a given, to be honest. However, after playing Phantom of the Kill for like... several times, I just can't help but feel annoyed to the fact that there are no Fire Emblem characters in the roster.
I'm not saying that Phantom of the Kill is bad, I mean it got a high score on my review and its still being played by a lot of people, but... after playing this game, I have managed to get that certain 'oomph' that I am looking for in a strategy game.
That being said, let my Reader's Review of Fire Emblem Heroes... BEGIN!
Hehe. ^^"
Title: Fire Emblem Heroes
Date Released: February 2, 2017 (in selected countries. Sadly, Philippines is not one of them... yet)
Company: Nintendo (developed by Intelligent Systems)
Genre: SRPG
Platform: Mobile
ESRB Rating: E10+
Brief Background: Fire Emblem Heroes one of the very few mobile games that Nintendo has ever made (alongside Miitomo and Super Mario Run). The game was first announced by Nintendo as a collaborative effort with mobile company DeNA in April 2016. The game has currently generated $2.9 million since its release.
What do you do here?
Basically, you are a Summoner who came from the real world. Yes, from the real world, that was transported to the world of Zenith, a place where gates, legendary pathways that lead to the multitude of Fire Emblem universes, are found.
There are two kingdoms that are waging war with each other, the Emblian Empire and the Askran Empire. Originally, the two kingdoms serve as overseers toward the gates, with the Askran Empire capable of opening the gates and the Emblian Empire capable of closing them. However, one day, Princess Veronica of the Emblian Empire has initiated an all-out offensive against the kingdom of Askr by forging a pact towards Heroes in an attempt to destroy the Askran Empire.
Alfonse and Sharena, siblings and nobles of the Askran Empire, need to do something to protect the realms. However, their combined efforts isn't enough. Anna, the commander of Alfonse and Sharena (and one of the most notable characters in the entire Fire Emblem franchise), went off to find the person capable of using the Breidablik, a sacred gun capable of summoning legendary Heroes... and this is where you, the Summoner, comes in.
What makes the game interesting?
It's FIRE FREAKING EMBLEM! WHAT MORE CAN YOU ASK FOR?!
Well, other than the obvious, Nintendo has made a transition from the mainstream gaming norm to the mobile space nicely. Nevertheless, allow me to expound some of them.
First of all, the premise of the game is very promising. It makes the game feel to be the 'ultimate' Fire Emblem game, in terms of its story. Imagine, every single Fire Emblem title converge from one realm to the other to stop an impending doom that will endanger all of the realms if left unchecked.
The game's presentation is minimal, but very effective. The game is played on a 6x3 grid, specifically catered for mobile devices. There's no need for you to hover around the screen just to get to the area that you want to go.
The in-game sprites are just adorable and quite fitting for a mobile game, while the battle mechanics have been slightly altered to meet mobile standards nicely.
The music in this game is great and exudes a lot of nostalgia. Take note that some of the music used in this game are either newly-composed for this game, or a rehash of older map themes.
What's most interesting about this game is the variety of characters. A majority of Fire Emblem characters, old and new, are here, with additional characters being added on a monthly basis. This is more than reason enough to unleash your inner Fire Emblem fan due to the immense amount of fanservice the game offers.
Each character from the series is given newly-recorded voices and the artwork for each of them are drawn by several, and well-renowned, Japanese illustrators, all of which have varying degrees of quality.
As mentioned, each character are given voices. Famous ones like Matthew Mercer and Laura Bailey even reprise their respective roles across the franchise, which is a nice touch for me.
Another thing that I like about this game is the summoning mechanic. In order to summon a Hero, players will need Orbs to summon them. Like every other gacha game out there, it requires a set amount of Orbs to summon. However, unlike other gacha games, successive summons will require less Orbs to perform. OK, I am going to explain a bit about how the summoning mechanic works in detail... because why the heck not?!
Every time you do a 'summoning session', you are given five Orbs, all of which are color-coded depending on a certain Hero of a certain type. To summon, you are going to need five Orbs for the initial summon, while four Orbs are needed for the second to the fourth summon, and the final summon will require you three Orbs; with a grand total of 20 Orbs. In a majority of gacha games that I played so far, this is one of those few games that are actually generous to their summoning session.
What's more?! The game tells you the actual probabilities of getting a unit you want. I really don't want to expound on this, but to make it short, the more unfortunate you are with your current pulls, the better chances you have to get a powerful unit in the future. Also, if you a gain any 5* units (the best units out there), the recruitment chances will reset.
Also, this is one of the few games that I played that are actually generous in giving out premium currency, aka Orbs, for free via log-in bonuses and special missions. Also, you get Orbs the first time you beat a stage during Story Missions.
Speaking of stages, there are several game modes that you can play at the moment; Story Missions, Training Tower, Special Quests, Arena, and the Voting Gauntlet. Allow me to explain each of them.
Story Missions are divided into two, Main Quests and Paralogue Quests; both of which provide strategic challenges and a very light-hearted narrative, despite its grim premise. The Training Tower is basically a place where you can level-up your units. Special Quests provide challenging maps that can allow you to get awesome goodies, like free Heroes and Orbs. Finally, the Arena is a place where you can try your team against other players' teams.
Keep in mind that, in Arena matches, the AI determines the actions of your enemy, since it is not a live PvP to begin with.
The final feature, the Voting Gauntlet, is some sort of a popularity contest. People at Nintendo decide to fill out certain characters, which players can choose to side with, to duke it out in a battle for popularity and... stuff. It is very stimulating and it feels very rewarding to see things through.
As of time of this writing, several other features were planned to be released in the coming months, such as additional features and game modes, so be prepared to check them all out.
What are the flaws that I found in this game?
OK, while I understand that the game is relatively new, the Story Missions felt a bit... short in my taste. While certain characters are introduced during the time the game is released, there are many others that were introduced later on. Sadly, as for the time of writing this blog, there are currently no new Story Missions to gaze upon.
Additionally, while the summoning mechanic is great, the accumulated chances of getting the units you want cannot be carried over to other 'banners'. Yes, you heard me right... banners. These are introduced to allow players to get specific characters you want on a specific roster. However, banners do not stay forever, and they are only available for a limited time. This particularly sucks for banners that only stay on a seasonal basis (I am talking to you, Spring Festival!). To make matters worse, once a banner disappears, the recruitment rates will also disappear and it will reset to the default amounts, which I find it stupid and tedious.
As what I've mentioned, each Fire Emblem character are drawn by a variety of artists, ranging from Noizi Ito to Yusuke Kozaki, and all of them have varying degrees of quality. Which means, some drawings are great (like Tiki's drawing and Leo's drawing), while others are just... well downright average (those eyes... Rebecca?!). Although seriously, I have this feeling that this is just me ranting, but hey, we all have acquired tastes so I believe that I am entitled to say such an opinion.
So... is there anything else to say about this game?
Well, other than it's great.... I really cannot say anything else about this... it just felt a bit... well, odd. I find it odd that Nintendo has taken a very long time to come up with this particular idea... and it works just fine, if you ask me... for the most part, at least.
Can you recommend this game?
IT'S FIRE FREAKING EMBLEM! WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY?!
Overall Rating: 8.6/10
A tried and true Fire Emblem game. It may have a lot of potential to become a very great mobile game but I believe that the game has to push even further to shine through. Also, since Nintendo is just relatively new to the mobile market, I really cannot expect too much... or too little about this game, as well as their future projects. But there is one thing I can say about this game, Fire Emblem Heroes is a game that is destined for greatness.
And while I barely scratched the surface of its many features, Fire Emblem Heroes is certainly, and undoubtedly, doing their best!
--END OF REVIEW--
