Fire Emblem's 3DS entry is more fun than you can shake a Falchion at.
Before the release of Fire Emblem Awakening, I would barely call myself a fan of the series. I was always interested, mainly due to the Marth and Roy cameos in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and played through the initial Game Boy Advance offering, but the rest of the series never grabbed me. I played bits of the follow-ups on GBA, DS, GameCube, and Wii, but none of it ever clicked. From the minute I sat down with Awakening, it all clicked, chiefly because the 3DS title is a wondrous game filled with fluid mechanics and mountains of content. The fact that this spectacular game is fourth on our 3DS Top 10 list only calls to mind how impressive the system's output has been, because Awakening is an amazing, top-of-the-line experience.
Its basic mechanics are nothing Fire Emblem fans would be confused by. The action takes place over a grid-based map where you move individuals in strategic ways. Countless conversations take place furthering the story and characters. You still have the familiar weapon triangle, and if you choose the Classic difficulty, characters still die forever if they fall in battle. What makes Awakening transcendent is what it adds and embellishes. Support conversations between pairs of characters take on new meaning as you build up relationships and eventually lead them to marriage. The Casual difficulty makes the gameplay more friendly for those intimidated by permadeath. The array of side battles, missions, and DLC add even more content to an already rich story.
Because of the DLC, and because of the story that calls to reference Marth, Awakening is almost like an anniversary party of the series' lengthy history. You can unlock the ability to play as nearly every relevant character from the past, and you can do it all through sharply written dialogue translated by the excellent team at 8-4. While the story in a grander sense isn't anything earth-shattering, the character interaction puts you in a position to grow more attached to the cast than ever before. You will feel like a son of a bitch if one of your hero's future babies witnesses their parents dies.
The marriages add an almost Harvest Moon-like quality to the experience when you try to get the right circumstances to pair off your favorite characters, whether you want the ideal pairing of the two mages, or you just think Ricken, the rookie magician, and Nowi, the 100-year-old dragon lady who looks like a 10-year-old girl, are meant for each other. The best part? Marry off characters and then you can complete side missions to play as their time-traveling children. It's a reward piled on top of a reward, that then leads to more rewards.
Even if you aren't a huge fan of the series, Fire Emblem Awakening greets you with open arms. It's a deft masterwork from the team at Intelligent Systems that consistently proves that they can make fantastic games. Awakening is no different, and it assuredly earns its spot at the Top 3DS Game table.