Parents' Guide to

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Deep, strategy-focused RPG has violence, skimpy outfits.

Game Nintendo 3DS 2017
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia game screenshot #1
  • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia game screenshot #2
  • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia game screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

Lance_Taco
Lance_Taco Adult
November 24, 2017
age 10+

I don't get what the complaints are about

The fatigue system doesn't make the game harder since consumables are abundant (plus you only need one to refill your entire party at a Statue of Mila). Character outfits aren't "skimpy", and even on Classic mode character deaths are merely a formality so long as you properly understand when and where to use Mila's Turnwheel. Frankly, Echoes isn't a hard FE game, but it does gradually increase in difficulty as the game proceeds. Oddly, I found that only the Terrors enemy type acted with any intelligence, and even still, enemies will occasionally hesitate to finish off already vulnerable units. Simply put, its a good game worth a look for any fans of earlier FE games, or of FE Heroes. P.S.: use a pitchfork and reclass Boey into a mercenary in chapter 2. you'll thank me later.
1 person found this helpful.
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What’s It About?

Based on the 1992 game Fire Emblem Gaiden, which was only released in Japan, FIRE EMBLEM ECHOES: SHADOWS OF VALENTIA completely reimagines its inspiration by anime cut scenes and a more modern take on turn-based tactical combat. It follows both sides of a continent-spanning war between nations that had lived peacefully beside each other for a millennium. As in most Fire Emblem games, players slowly amass a large group of individual heroes, all with their own classes, gear, and abilities. This is the pool from which characters are drawn to create custom war parties used in chess-like turn-based battles carried out on gridded environments. These encounters take place as players move along a linear world map to progress in the story. Most of this should sound pretty familiar to franchise fans, but Shadows of Valentia also introduces something completely new to the Fire Emblem experience: 3D dungeons that players can explore from a third-person perspective to search for treasure and take on special enemies over the course of their journey.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (5):

If your only experience with this series is the free-to-play Fire Emblem Heroes mobile app, you're in for a deeper, more satisfying game. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia delivers a rich tactical role-playing game experience, with battles featuring a dozen or more characters waging war on big maps that provide a range of sophisticated tactical options based on terrain, unit abilities, and gear. The concept of "permadeath" -- one of the series' signature features, although it's missing from the app -- only enhances the story, putting extra weight on the emotional connections players make with individual members of their unlikely bands of warriors. Permadeath can be switched off, but doing so vastly lessens the stakes and tension of each battle and comes with an equal reduction in the satisfaction derived from victory.

Shadows of Valentia isn't only about rehashing familiar mechanics. It also introduces new elements, such as 3D dungeons that you can explore from an over-the-shoulder view like any action game. These sequences deliver an enhanced sense of control and immersion within the world and can result in valuable treasure finds and more challenging enemy encounters. Not all the additions are as welcome, though. A new fatigue system, for example, makes it harder to keep your favorite fighters at combat-ready strength. These games are hard enough as it is, and fatigue just seems like an unnecessary burden. But the overall experience remains absolutely compelling. There are good reasons why Fire Emblem has sat among the cream of the tactical RPG crop for decades, and you'll find pretty much all of them on display in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about technology addiction. It's easy for kids to become obsessed with lengthy portable games such as Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, but do you know how to set limits on games that you can take with you wherever you go?

  • Talk about the notion of "permadeath" in games. In most games, when a character dies, he or she simply respawns, but not in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. So how does the possibility of a character dying forever affect how you play? How does it affect your emotional bond with the character through the game?

Game Details

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