Fire Emblem Awakening out today

Three years after the release of the rather lifeless Shadow Dragon, and five years since we were graced by the excellent Radiant Dawn, gaming’s preeminent strategy series has once again found it’s way to the west with today’s release of Fire Emblem Awakening. While I don’t much care for game reviews when it comes to tripul ay titles or artsy indie games, seeing a relatively niche eastern title sitting over 90 at Metacritic usually bodes well. And while a dumbing-down of the series could have driven those scores – Radiant Dawn was widely and embarrassingly criticized for it’s difficulty – it seems that Intelligent Systems has instead opted to lower the barrier of entry with the inclusion of Casual mode, while still retaining the level of challenge series vets expect. There is no game I’m more excited for this year, and I fully anticipate Awakening to stack up admirably against the sublime Radiant duo.

If it ever ships, that is.

Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem leaves me puzzled, excited

Well, this is a strange one. The assumed strategy mash-up was announced during today’s frantic Nintendo Direct, leaving fans on both sides of the title card wondering if they woke up on the wrong side of reality this morning. While nothing resembling gameplay footage was on display, we were party to some bodacious 2D character art camera pans the Japanese love so much.

As a Fire Emblem fan, I can hardly complain being mere weeks away from the first genuinely excited installment in over five years. And my limited experience with the SMT series – Strange Journey namely – has been a pleasant one. Consider my ears perked and my interest piqued.