advantage
2 reviews liked by advantage
The game that saved Fire Emblem as a franchise. Pretty cool.
Gameplay Rating: 7/10
It's definitely Fire Emblem, albeit super simplified.
That being said, it is probably the easiest Fire Emblem game if you're doing a regular playthrough. I can't speak for the mental ward patients doing Lunatic+ No Supports No Pair Up No Items No Weapons No Skills No Crying runs (god bless their souls), but it is comically easy to turn this game into an absolute cakewalk by reclassing only once with the Second Seal, gaining not just more chances to hit your stat caps, but also gaining entirely new skills that break the game (see: Galeforce). Combine that with the Support System and Pair Up, it becomes obscenely easy to steamroll through the game. And let's not even get started on how busted the Child Units are.
Map Design-wise, it's definitely on the weaker side compared to the rest of the franchise. None of the maps are particularly too memorable, barring a few of the gimmicky maps like the volcano one, but I don't remember there being a particularly bad map. Maybe the desert chapters, but those are in virtually every Fire Emblem game.
Story Rating: 8/10
The first arc, up to Chapter 11, is one of the strongest introductions to Fire Emblem; I'd argue that it's THE best place to start when playing Fire Emblem because it gives you pretty much everything you could ask for.
From there it kind of wanes a little with the Valm arc, but it's passable for the most part.
The characters are fun. There's some good interactions between the cast in the Supports, like Lon'qu and Cherche's.
It's nothing mindblowing, but it's solid enough.
Colorblind Rating: A+
Nothing really affected me here, so it's a-ok.
Gameplay Rating: 7/10
It's definitely Fire Emblem, albeit super simplified.
That being said, it is probably the easiest Fire Emblem game if you're doing a regular playthrough. I can't speak for the mental ward patients doing Lunatic+ No Supports No Pair Up No Items No Weapons No Skills No Crying runs (god bless their souls), but it is comically easy to turn this game into an absolute cakewalk by reclassing only once with the Second Seal, gaining not just more chances to hit your stat caps, but also gaining entirely new skills that break the game (see: Galeforce). Combine that with the Support System and Pair Up, it becomes obscenely easy to steamroll through the game. And let's not even get started on how busted the Child Units are.
Map Design-wise, it's definitely on the weaker side compared to the rest of the franchise. None of the maps are particularly too memorable, barring a few of the gimmicky maps like the volcano one, but I don't remember there being a particularly bad map. Maybe the desert chapters, but those are in virtually every Fire Emblem game.
Story Rating: 8/10
The first arc, up to Chapter 11, is one of the strongest introductions to Fire Emblem; I'd argue that it's THE best place to start when playing Fire Emblem because it gives you pretty much everything you could ask for.
From there it kind of wanes a little with the Valm arc, but it's passable for the most part.
The characters are fun. There's some good interactions between the cast in the Supports, like Lon'qu and Cherche's.
It's nothing mindblowing, but it's solid enough.
Colorblind Rating: A+
Nothing really affected me here, so it's a-ok.
Three Houses was my introduction to the FE series, and I thought the writing was incredibly deep and well-written with fun gameplay for the most part. Over time I found myself getting super attached to the wide cast of characters with deep and riveting writing. I thought the rest of the series would pale in comparison to it and Three Hopes, but I was wrong when I played PoR. Quickly this has become one of my top 5 games of all time, especially on my second playthrough. The gameplay is fairly standard for FE standards, but the overall map design and skills/base system made PoR very fun to play through. PoR's biggest highlight is the story and Ike. The narrative is entirely Ike's journey from a wandering mercenary to a continent-renowned hero; a coming-of-age story told and presented exceptionally well. The lore and worldbuilding of Tellius easily rivals the levels of depth and quantity of the Fodlan game. Each nation is fleshed out and has a lot to offer in terms of the overarching narrative and Ike's storyline. Lastly I wanna mention the cast of characters in the game. While a lot of them come off as pretty one-note and gimmicky, there are some legitimately fantastic characters in PoR on the same levels as my other favourites in the FE series such as Zihark, Jill, Soren, Shinon, Reyson, Ashnard, Tibarn, Naesala, and the Black Knight.
This is undoubtedly the definitive best Fire Emblem game; almost every aspect of this game is done right from the narrative, characters, gameplay loop, core combat, and music.
This is undoubtedly the definitive best Fire Emblem game; almost every aspect of this game is done right from the narrative, characters, gameplay loop, core combat, and music.