Fire Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow review.

[fatgamecat]

Fire Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow (FE:HLS) is Intelligent Systems' (IS) latest title in the flagship turn based tactical Fire Emblem series. It's a remake of the third FE title on the Super Famicom titled Monshou no Nazo, continuing Marth's adventures after Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon to put an end to the reptilian (dragon) menace once and for all. FE:HLS is a significant improvement over FE:SD in both plot and character development, combat mechanics, content, balance, and difficulty settings.

The My Unit system lets you create and customize your own character to fight alongside Marth. You can select their appearance, class, and provide them with stat and growth boosts. As you might expect, an optimally configured My Unit will easily best anyone else in your army. My Unit gets his or her own prologue and side story chapters focusing on a group of assassins out to kill Marth.

Maps are better designed than FE:SD, with plenty of variety and unique conditions. Frequent enemy movement and reinforcements encourage the player to keep moving. There are few choke points for the player to turtle up and hide in, and if there is a choke points, you can be sure there will be large numbers of enemies trying to pass through it. There are many groups of enemies that are scripted to not move out and attack until you move one of your own units deep into their collective attack ranges, ensuring you'll need a durable unit that can take punishment from multiple enemies to proceed. The many scripted events and tactical map design ensures most players won't get bored or feel like they are dealing with a brain dead opponent.

Side story chapters are far easier to access than FE:SD, accessible by clearing the chapter with a very lax turn count, or meeting a very easy optional objective. You practically can't miss them this time around. This should appease gamers who were highly disgruntled at having to kill off more than half their army to reach the side story chapters in FE:SD.

New to the series is Casual mode, where units that reach 0 HP during chapters do not die permanently. Instead they are temporarily removed until the next chapter with no other penalties. Casual mode is selectable independent of the difficulty level selection, so you can play any difficulty while remaining on Casual mode. This should appeal to audiences of gamers that don't like the permanent death feature of Fire Emblem. Classic mode is still available for those gamers who enjoy their carefully laid plans going awry by a stray critical.

FE:HLS features the widest range of difficulty levels of any Fire Emblem game. You may choose from Normal mode up to Hard, Mania, Lunatic, and Lunatic Reverse (note: Japanese names, may not be the same in NA). On top of the difficulty selection, there is a ranking system that grades you on Speed, Survival, and Tactics. The easiest mode is a walk in the park, perfectly suited to beginners or those who aren't interested in a hard slog. Hard mode is most comparable to the original Super Famicom version - it can get a little stressful here and there, but you probably won't be losing any sleep over it. Mania mode is fairly difficult, but it doesn't go all out like Lunatic mode. Lunatic and Lunatic Reverse mode is a sadistic test of skill, patience, and planning that only gifted tacticians will be able to dominate. Clearing Lunatic unlocks Lunatic Reverse, which is a version of Lunatic mode where enemies always get the first attack in combat even during player phase.

One major difference in Lunatic mode compared to easier modes is that you don't get game altering items such as the Warp stave, so there are far fewer easy 1 turn victories like in FE:SD. Enemies promote earlier, come in vastly greater numbers, show up as reinforcements earlier or more frequently, wield powerful forged weapons as soon as the first chapter, and always have the highest weapon rank with a bonus +10 to hit. By the mid-late game enemies have almost fully capped stats with very powerful forged weapons. Having characters who can take more than one hit before dying are a valuable commodity on Lunatic. Finally, Lunatic mode has an anti-boss farming feature that awards decreasing amounts of XP for hitting any boss with regenerating HP. Getting low turn counts, every possible item, and every recruit on Lunatic Reverse is a worthy challenge for even the most experienced tactics veteran.

The class change system returns. There are no characters with abnormally high growth rates like in FE:SD, so the system is far more balanced this time around. Mid-battle save points make their return. These are a useful way to keep random bad luck to a minimum or reload for level up growths. Game balance isn't all perfect. Some classes such as Heroes are particularly worthless in comparison to the better classes. On Lunatic difficulty you'll be restricted to a handful of the best characters in the game if you want to survive. The ranking system only goes up to A, no S this time around. Veteran players will not have much trouble reaching an A rank on most difficulties, which is a disappointment.

During intermission, you'll have access to Everybody's Situation, where you can get free items, weapons, temporary stat boosts, and support conversation levels. This feature is somewhat unbalanced as you can get some of the best weapons in the game if you get lucky or wait long enough. There should have been more restrictions built into this feature, such as only being able to use it a limited number of times per chapter and removing the powerful weapons.

The plot and characters are more fleshed out, with lots of personal conversations, base conversations, and an expanded plot featuring My Unit. Much like Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, supports are developed by deploying characters in the same chapter together then initiating support conversations during intermission. Gamers disappointed by FE:SD's bare bones plot and low character development will like the greatly increased personal development of the cast.

Wi-Fi features such as the Wi-Fi store are back. Nintendo is offering free Wi-Fi goodies like the 77 use Rainbow Potion that gives your party members +2 to every stat for a chapter. Expect the Rainbow Potion to show up 3-6 months after the expected NA release, if the JP release is anything to go by. The Wi-Fi store contains the usual selection of items that you make the game significantly easier with, such as a Rescue and Again stave and hero weapons. I would have liked to see more restrictions on Wi-Fi store usage on Lunatic difficulty mode.

The UI is responsive and well designed as would be expected from IS, but not everything is perfect. The intermission management could have used some consolidation between the unit selection, trading, and class change sections. There are a lot of unused buttons that could have been employed to do so. The roster details section doesn't include pages where you can check a list of your army's weapon levels, which is something that previous FE titles had.

Clearing the game unlocks features like the ability to change male characters into a wider range of available male classes, adding stat boost items in the base store, unlocking 4 extra missions, and other goodies. The extra maps have their own scoring system independent of the campaign and getting a top score is not an easy feat.

FE:HLS is a major improvement on FE:SD and one of the best console tactics games thus far. There's something for everyone, no matter your skill level or whether you like combat or plot. I highly recommend you pick it up if you're at all interested in tactics games. I would definitely call it the best console tactics game of 2010 in Japan.

If you'd like to read more about FE:HLS, check out my guide here.

Strategic Depth: Medium-high. All of the micromanagement and tactical combat you'd expect from a Fire Emblem title.

Strategic Difficulty: Low to very high. A very wide selection of difficulty modes ensures just about every player will be satisfied.

Overall Score: 9.2/10 - A great tactics title that only falters when it comes to balance and abusable features at the higher difficulty modes.

Edited December 5, 2010 by mjemirzian

[Rewjeo]

There are penalties for a unit reaching 0 HP in Casual, IIRC. They don't receive any support points from that chapter and can't get anything from the clock bonus the next.

[fatgamecat]

There are penalties for a unit reaching 0 HP in Casual, IIRC. They don't receive any support points from that chapter and can't get anything from the clock bonus the next.

Oops, I wasn't aware of that.

[VincentASM]

Do those really count as real penalities though? A bunch of players probably don't even notice the support bonus system and the clock bonus is pretty random in the first place.

Anyway, it was a good review. It was also nice to see a generally positive outlook on the game, which hopefully isn't a huge surprise since the game is quite good, but after some fans' opinions on Shadow Dragon...

Although this part doesn't seem to make sense:

There are no characters with abnormally high growth rates in FE:SD, so the system is far more balanced this time around.

Is that supposed to be "like in FE:SD", i.e referring to Sedgar and Wolf?

EDIT

I just tested it and KO'd characters can still get the clock bonus in the next chapter.

Edited December 4, 2010 by VincentASM

[dondon151]

There are penalties for a unit reaching 0 HP in Casual, IIRC. They don't receive any support points from that chapter and can't get anything from the clock bonus the next.

I guess you could also say that you lose 1000 G per character defeated in the prologue? Or does that not apply either?

[VincentASM]

That occurs on Classic mode as well (the only time it doesn't occur is on Normal mode).

[Paperblade]

Although this part doesn't seem to make sense:

Is that supposed to be "like in FE:SD", i.e referring to Sedgar and Wolf?

I think what he means is that growths in general are a lot higher in this game, so it's easy to get characters to max most non-Res stats, especially if you have the Lunatic Mode stat boosters unlocked. While no individual characters get to Sedgar/Wolf levels, it's easy to get 50+ growths in multiple stats, and a lot of characters beat their SD forms in every stat.

[Phoenix Wright]

I think a fault to this game is that it hasn't been announced internationally yet.

Edited December 5, 2010 by Phoenix Wright

[grandjackal]

I think a fault to this game is that it hasn't been announced internationally yet.

Well, it has in an indirect fashion. It was announced that before they were to launch off the 3DS they would get to work shipping over some games that were stuck in Japan on the DS, Fire Emblem being mentioned specifically.

Or at least, that's what I remember hearing. I've been learning lately that my sources suck.

[Phoenix Wright]

Well, it has in an indirect fashion. It was announced that before they were to launch off the 3DS they would get to work shipping over some games that were stuck in Japan on the DS, Fire Emblem being mentioned specifically.

Or at least, that's what I remember hearing. I've been learning lately that my sources suck.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that...

[fatgamecat]

That actually was a typo.. sorry about that. Although you are right, Paperblade, the growths in general are higher than in FE:SD, so you can use just about anyone on Normal or Hard and have a good time. Glad you liked it Vincent. I am looking forward to the game arriving in the US.

[VincentASM]

Well, it has in an indirect fashion. It was announced that before they were to launch off the 3DS they would get to work shipping over some games that were stuck in Japan on the DS, Fire Emblem being mentioned specifically.

Or at least, that's what I remember hearing. I've been learning lately that my sources suck.

I'm pretty sure no games were mentioned specifically. I read the original extract from Nintendo's website.

[Big Klingy]

Heh, I was going to do one of these myself, but you beat me to it, and pretty much summed up my opinions too. It's kind of sad that so many people take a look at this game's graphics and assume 'same game as SD. Fail'. (sadly, I believe that's how most proffesional review sites will treat the game too)

Seriously, if you look just a little deeper, you'll realise this game improves on nearly every flaw of SD. (apart from reclass, but, let's face it, without it Lunatic would be even more ridiculous)

One thing I would like to add though, is that this game really has something for everyone. With casual and lunatic, it caters for both the newest of newcomers and the most die-hard of hardcore fans, respectively. Sometimes people complain when a series starts to open up to casuals more, as it often leads to neglecting the long-time fans. I'm glad to see a game that satisfies both groups, in big ways. (random side note: Nintendo in general seems to be taking this approach recently, greatly increasing the difficulty of its new platformers, and adding lots of hidden rewards for 100% completionists, while adding co-op and super guide [which you don't have to use], for example)

I also think this game needs to be considered in two seperate lights: as a remake, and as a sequal to SD. You've addressed the general concensus on the latter very well. I may try to discuss my views on the former when I next get time.

[Hatchet]

this cryptic implication.... hmmm that guy that stands next to Marth, he looks a little TOO much like Ike... fufufu

[Ike-Mike]

Seriously, if you look just a little deeper, you'll realise this game improves on nearly every flaw of SD. (apart from reclass, but, let's face it, without it Lunatic would be even more ridiculous)

I'd say it improves reclass too.

In SD I've mostly chosen one class for every unit for most of the game and stuck with it while in FE12 I'm more inclined to reclass plenty of units every chapter or two.

Nintendo in general seems to be taking this approach recently

If by "recently" you mean "throughout this entire generation with varying degrees of success" then I agree.

Edited December 6, 2010 by Ike-Mike

[Big Klingy]

I'd say it improves reclass too.

In SD I've mostly chosen one class for every unit for most of the game and stuck with it while in FE12 I'm nore inclined to reclass plenty of units every chapter or two.

I actually meant that many fans wanted reclass removed entirely, but still, you have a point.

If by "recently" you mean "throughout this entire generation with varying degrees of success" then I agree.

That's probably the best way of putting it.

[Phoenix_Kensai]

Good review. This is the actually the first review I've seen of Heroes of Light and Shadow, and I'm glad to see that it's very positive. While I liked Shadow Dragon, I'm certainly happy that it seems more work was put into this remake than the last (though I have never played the original version of either).

What is your opinion of the story in comparison to the other Fire Emblem games? I was glad to see that support and base conversations have returned, but... I confess to being a little disappointed by the limited number of supports for everyone that isn't My Unit, as well.

[Ike-Mike]

The story is your cookie-cutter FE story with some very dark and deconstructive undertones on it. For example, remember how RD's plot basically starts out that the country you've defeated in the last game doesn't have it all fine and dandy? FE3 did that first.

As for the supports and base conversations, they give you enough of an impression for each character while leaving enough room for your own interpretations.

[The Awesomest]

Well, it has in an indirect fashion. It was announced that before they were to launch off the 3DS they would get to work shipping over some games that were stuck in Japan on the DS, Fire Emblem being mentioned specifically.

Or at least, that's what I remember hearing. I've been learning lately that my sources suck.

Mmmm yeah, Fire Emblem was just mentioned as a hypothetical by the people reporting on the article.

[Big Klingy]

The story is your cookie-cutter FE story with some very dark and deconstructive undertones on it. For example, remember how RD's plot basically starts out that the country you've defeated in the last game doesn't have it all fine and dandy? FE3 did that first.

As for the supports and base conversations, they give you enough of an impression for each character while leaving enough room for your own interpretations.

Interesting you should mention that, because I actually feel this is probably one of the darkest FE's yet. First you have the knight training where everyone's all fine and happy, (not to mention going on about friendship and teamwork...) which basically all goes out the window when

Katarina turns out to be an assasin sent to kill Marth.

Admittedly it was pretty easy to see coming, but it's all a downward spiral from there. You have what you described, but I'd also like to mention that one of your former allies from SD is the boss of the first (non-prologue) chapter, and if you try to do the genre-savy [come on, it would be to anyone who dosen't know what's coming] thing and have Marth talk to him, he

commits suicide.

One hell of a Player Punch there.

FE3 was already pretty dark, but the new story aditions take it to even higher levels. The assasins are a very creepy group of villains, and yet their deaths are some of the most heart-wrenchingly tragic scenes in the series. (Well, most of them, Roro was one giant 'Big Lipped Aligator Moment' right from the start) And then you have Gharnef, of all people, getting character development. I for one find his method of corrupting people, taking their negative emotions and magnifying them tenfold with the Darksphere, actually pretty scary, mostly because those emotions are all vety real and understandably dangerous to anyone who's experienced them.

Hardin: unrequited love, Eremiya: grief and loss, Elleren: jealousy. Yes, DL chapter 1 implies Gharnef attempted to do this to Elleren too, and he would have easily succeeded had you not intervened in Ch 10

Not to mention, some of the support conversations contain some very dark material. Ogmas comes to mind here. but Arran, (not just his terminal illness... see the third conversation) the Wolfguard (especially Wolf.

first playable character with a borderline mental illness?

) and even Dolph (who's conversations start out as comic relief) are certainly examples. Basically, anytime you hear 'The Right Road'.