Fire Emblem Heroes Review

Platforms: iOS and Android devices
Player(s): 1

I've never played a Fire Emblem game; let me just get that out of the way first. The closest connection to the series I have is seeing Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros. Needless to say, I wasn't terribly excited about a Fire Emblem-themed mobile game. Boy, was I wrong. Before you brush this off as a lazy bad review by someone who doesn't even like the franchise, lemme spoil it for you a little: I LOVE this game.

Fire Emblem Heroes takes the well-known tactical combat franchise and ports it over to mobile platforms, simplifying the combat mechanics and making it free-to-play. It's got your usual mobile game quirks, like a stamina system and overpriced microtransactions, but what struck me right off the bat was just how much FUN this game is to play. You, the player, take your team of four Fire Emblem characters and battle it out against other teams in some simplified tactics gameplay. There's a full story mode of nine chapters (not much of a STORY though, if you ask me) and a PvP-lite system where you can go up against an AI-controlled team built by another player.

As you progress through the story, you earn resources which can be used for a myriad of different things. There are about a million different types of crystals and crystal shards, all used at different levels to upgrade your units. The most important drops, however, are the little rainbow-colored orbs you get for completing a story mission. These orbs are used to either upgrade your home castle, or buy a pack of new units. 

The tactical combat system is a lot simpler than what people are used to in the Fire Emblem franchise, but it's satisfying to use. You drag your units across the board, with combat itself going off of the personal stats of a unit and a basic rock-paper-scissors triangle formula, where red beats green, green beats blue, and so on. Drawing units with higher stars means better stats, though stats can be improved through leveling up and you can even raise a unit's star level through the use of Hero Feathers (which are obtained mostly through the PvP system).

As I said above, I love this game. It's a lot of fun, and very addicting. At the time of writing I've finished the story and am about halfway through doing it again on hard difficulty. There's still a bunch to do once you've finished the story of course, from daily "special" missions (which grant you a new unit) to the aforementioned PvP to the side quest "Paralogues" section I haven't unlocked yet (and can't find info online for either), and more! All in all, the game's free and pretty fun. You have nothing to lose but time (and you may sink a LOT of time into this game!). I see no reason why you shouldn't check it out. Fire Emblem Heroes is available free of charge on most Android and iOS devices.

-Justin

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Graphics: GREAT
Sound: GOOD
Gameplay: GREAT
Value: FREE!
 
OVERALL: GREAT

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