The black sheep
Before entering the merit of the product, a brief premise: Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have shown a nonsense courage to propose this remake, essentially for two reasons.
The first is linked to the justification of the black sheep that the original title had gained over the years in the saga, while at the same time making it the ideal candidate for a remake but also the most risky ‘plenty of unreleased dynamics for the series.
The second concerns the recent exploitation of the franchise: this is the third episode of the series published in four years, the fourth if we also consider Fire Emblem Heroes , released for iOS and Android devices, and since two more titles were announced, one spin-off in collaboration with Omega Force and a regular switch title, there was a real risk of saturating the market.
Nevertheless, considering the fact that the original episode has never crossed the borders of Japan, Fire Emblem Echoes comes as a breath of fresh air, a saga representative in everything and everything but, at the same time, it offers experiments in any case, by the elimination of the weapons triangle, one of the foundations of the franchise since its inception, the introduction of dungeons freely explored.
The most familiar element, between palace struggles and kingdoms at the brink of war, is certainly the narrative story, which spans Alm and Celica, grown side by side in a quiet village on the edge of the realm of Zofia, where time flows slowly and the days are equal to each other.
Soon, however, the peaceful daily routine will be interrupted by a handful of unscrupulous soldiers who will bring to light the real identity of Celica, forced to leave the village in a hurry, accompanied by Ser Mycen, Grand’s grandfather.
Without spoiling anything, we are confining ourselves to saying that Nintendo’s choice of publishing two amateurs dedicated to the protagonists does not seem naughty, given the character and strength that both will demonstrate during the pursuit of the adventure.
So many changes
Having played the original title, which can only be done with a great Japanese knowledge or using an amateur English patch, we have been mediocre at this early hour of play because Fire Emblem Echoes is played very differently from its predecessors, remaining essentially a complex and rewarding turnaround.
Eliminating the use of weapons, the ability to learn skill from the equipment, level up as you use it, the removal of ties and, with them, multiple attacks and reinforced defense and the assignment of a shared pool of experience points at the end of each battle are just some of the big differences that come to mind and that we could test during the first ten short hours.
If, depending on personal taste, each of them can be appreciated or not (to us the wear of weapons, for example, it is not that he had ever gone crazy …), it should be said that overall balance, as by tradition for the series, it is still praiseworthy, because in the gameplay economy these changes end up being offset by offering a gaming experience that is both familiar and unusual.
The only grievance to be taken with the pincers, as we did not even come in half the country, is about the level of overall challenge: forged from the impossible battles of Fire Emblem Fates Conquista, we have not found bread to our teeth so far having immediately set the difficulty at the highest level available at the first run, or Hard.
We will see if the continuation of the campaign will also give us satisfaction from this point of view.
