I wish either Google or the actual game of Fire Emblem Heroes would keep track of how much time I have spent playing, because I would not be surprised if it was upwards of 20+ hours, which may not sound like a lot, until you realize that it is a mobile RPG tactics game. Coupled with the fact that I also do not really favor mobile games, if only because I would rather save my battery for actually using my phone as a phone or to keep track of the hikes that Conklederp and I go on on the weekends.
But Fire Emblem Heroes!
If I were to describe this game to you, I would say that it is a simplified tactics game with a battle system similar to Rochambeau (Water>Fire>Earth>Water etc) with some variations (Archers>Flying Units; Rogues>Mages; Healers. . .). Apparently FEH follows the "Complete Gacha" model for mobile games, which I too had to look up. For me though, I feel that I have not played the game with the "I have to get the highest ranking characters in order to enjoy the game." Instead, I will use my in-game currency to "purchase" characters and if I do not like them, for whatever reason, I will have some of their abilities absorbed by another character, or turned into another item that allows characters to, in essence, level up. If you are patient, there are plenty of ways to acquire the in-game currency, not to mention additional ways if you connect your Nintendo account.
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| One of many "generic" battle area maps. |
I would also like to preface everything that I am about to say with the fact that I have never played any games in the Fire Emblem series, mainly because I don't know why. I really enjoy tactics games and apparently that is essentially what these games are all about.
So what I love about FEH is the simplicity that they have injected into the tactics genre. You first create your party from your existing characters, then you select which battle you want to enter, and you are given the level and general composition of the enemies you are fighting. So you would not want to bring in four blue characters against four green characters; well, I guess you could for the added challenge, but there are times when an opponent is too strong and your attacks will do 0 damage; you are even shown what amount of damage your attack will do and how much damage you will take if there is a counterattack before you even commit to the move/attack. You then move your characters and have them attack or not, then the enemy (computer) moves and attacks and you fight until one side wins.
You also have the option (as seen in the picture to the left) to see where your enemies can attack you so you can best avoid moving to an area where you will be attacked on their turn. The main benefits of this is in the early game when the computer will (typically) not move/attack until at least one character can be attacked so it gives you a bit of time to move your characters around as opposed to their starting positions; but this is not always the case as I have had the enemy start moving before I breached the barrier.
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| The fight screen that pops up to show attacks. |
The way that I have played this game takes advantage of the fact that it is a free-to-play and not pay-to-win, unless you focus all of your attention on the arena mode where you can fight automated versions of other real players (at least I think it is an automated battle). I played through the story mode (battles with a bit of story thrown in) without spending any money to try and acquire better, higher ranking characters, and leveled up a lot in Training battles. And while there is a Stamina meter (currently starts at 99), which recharges 1 stamina every minute and since battles typically take more than one minute, you might be hard pressed to run through your stamina (or just use Stamina potions which I do not think I have ever used despite having 25+ of them). That is, unless you are doing a lot of higher level battles which can use up upwards of 15-20 stamina per battle.
What I usually end up doing is leveling up a lot of my low level characters in Training battles, as low level characters level more quickly which is more satisfying, then boost their rarity level (from a three star character to a four star which grants additional skills and higher starting stats), then do it all over again. Granted it is not actually progressing the game at all and what FEH essentially has turned into for me is a simplified tactics fighting game.
Okay, I think that is enough as I probably could go on a bit longer, but what it all boils down to is that I recommend this game. It is free (in the best and maybe worst possible ways if you are susceptible to gambling tendencies) and you do not have to spend any money to actually enjoy playing. And because it is me, Hiroki Morishita has written some pretty great music for the game (which may or may not have already been written for previous Fire Emblem games).
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
P.S. Here are a couple more random pictures that I didn't include because I didn't want to use that many words.
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| Beginning Layout |
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| Enemy Attacking! |
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