Fire Emblem Heroes is Nintendo’s third mobile game they’ve released, not including any Pokemon games because that is the Pokemon company and not solely Nintendo. I’ve never played any Fire Emblem games, so if you’re looking for a big fan review then maybe this isn’t the place. However, I have always wanted to get into the series. Over the years I’ve heard a lot of great buzz and have had people tell me they’re great games but I never wanted to risk the sixty dollar risk of buying one and hating it. That entails the one area where this game is really good, its free to play. I’m a big fan of getting rid of free to play games, because most of them are garbage, and I believe that you should just set a price and give people quality gaming over making a few extra dollars from some kid with his parent’s bank card. Fire Emblem Heroes, however, is free to play and thats a good move by Nintendo because despite Fire Emblem being huge in the Nintendo community I can’t imagine it is huge outside of it. Thus it being free to play means heaps of new fans can jump into the series and see if they like it without having to take the money risk. Thats just a few good thoughts on the roll out of the game, it has micro transactions in it but not heaps that I can tell of.
The game itself is good and sometimes alright. As someone who only knows the characters from Super Smash Bros I can safely say I don’t really get what is going on in the game but I understand enough for me to keep playing. I am a summoner of all these heroes who are defending a kingdom from evil people from another kingdom that is taking over the good heroes. Like I said general jist of whats going on. That leads to finding out about new characters and that is exciting because there is a huge roster of characters to collect and finding new ones and reading/learning about them is fun. The gameplay is tactical and fun, something I already know of from the small amounts I know of the 3DS games. The different classes and figuring out how to attack on the battlefield and who to attack is the best part as it puts your planning to the test. I’ve been playing it sporadically, two or three times a day, and I’m only up to the second chapter now which means that the game is pretty long. With a huge list of characters to learn about and heaps of content to play without having to pay for it, I’m yet to spend any money in the game, Fire Emblem Heroes is a great way to jump into the series, especially if you’re getting the Nintendo Switch and want to try out Fire Emblem before you buy a console Fire Emblem game on it. I can see this game coming to the switch, the switch has a touch screen, it plays beautifully on an iPhone and the quality of game design and general feelof the game is very high, one of the best games I’ve played on mobile. My only hope with the rest of the game is that I don’t have to start paying for things because that would start to bug me. I don’t mind waiting since I can never really play it for more than a few maps at a time before I start to lose interest a little and decide I’ll play more later but the game is very good for introducing you to the series and I want to gain new characters but not spend heaps of money on it. The third Nintendo game is as good as the others but will probably have the same life span on my phone as the other which sit there getting swiped past. It would be good if Nintendo to release a game that I would want to and feel the need to play every day. I’m pretty sure that’ll be an Animal Crossing, a series I know much more about….sorry Fire Emblem but hey I’m glad I’m getting to know you finally.
VERDICT
Do I recommend this game? If you are a Fire Emblem fan then yes and if you want to get into the series then also yes. If you’re just a fan of mobile games or a general Nintendo/mario fan then it probably isn’t for you.
Score: 3.5/5 – Fire Emblem Heroes is a great game for fans of the series and it is a great game to jump in and learn about the series if you are new to it. You never really feel like playing it for long periods of time but you enjoy the time you spend with it. That does mean you’ll play it for more days but I just hope that I end up finishing it because I am unsure I will achieve that right now.