Fire Emblem: Awakening Official Thread

Introduction

Fire Emblem: Awakening is the brand-new game in the classic series by Intelligent Systems. Awakening could be called the "greatest hits" of the entire series so far, with numerous returning characters, and ideas (traversable world map, special skills, marriage). In terms of length, the game features 25 main chapters as well as a prologue, 17 side-chapters (with 5 in addition via SpotPass) and a selection of DLC (more on this later).

The game also features the largest production values for the series so far, with numerous CGI cutscenes and VA sequences. In addition, the interface has been revamped to be more streamlined and user-friendly, and as such looks incredibly crisp and inviting. If you've never played a Fire Emblem game before, now's the time to start!

Release Dates 

USA- Released

EU- April 19th 2013 (...)

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Gameplay- Battles

Well, if you've played a Fire Emblem game you pretty much know what to expect here. So, you may as well skip past this section...or should you?

Yes, Awakening features the tried-and-tested SPRG formula. A selection of characters, move on an isometric grid, stats govern the damage you'll do on units, different weapons and units are weak and strong against others (bows are good against flying units, for example). So it's all about your usual Fire Emblem (or, heck, almost any SRPG ever released) up to this point. But here's where the changes start.

First and foremost, the biggest change is the dual attack system. When a character enters battle with a friendly unit next to them, the friendly unit will appear besides them as a "support character". As well as boosting the active character's combat stats, the support character offers a chance of providing offensive and defensive aid--all elements of the Dual system.

After the active character strikes the enemy, a "Dual Attack" may occur, where the support character launches a follow-up attack on the unsuspecting enemy, with the additional benefit of both characters receiving experience. When the active character is attacked by the enemy, a "Dual Guard" may trigger, where the support character completely shields them from damage. The stronger the bond between characters, the higher the chance of a Dual Attack or Dual Guard activating. So it certainly adds a little bit of extra strategy to the game and is an incredibly useful way of upgrading your weaker units!

In addition, there's also a new "Pair Up" command which is avaliable. Think "Rescue", but it's the person who's going to be rescued who issues the command. However, there are several benefits. The users move together (so pairing an armoured unit with a flying unit for easy traversal) and the active unit gets a stat upgrade from the standby one, depending on their unit type (e.g. Fighters mainly increase attack, Mages magic) and support. They can also deal Dual Attacks, as with other units, and can switch around freely.

Gameplay- My Unit/Levelling

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So that's the fighting sorted. But there's still some other bits which haven't been mentioned, namely My Unit and Class Changing. 

My Unit is a new concept to the Fire Emblem universe. It's a blank canvase, you design the character. You choose the Gender (which has more effect than just the looks), the build, face, hair, voice, name etc. You can also choose an "Asset", and a "Flaw". The former is your characters strength, and the latter is their weak point in the game. You always start off as a Tactician, but you can change their class using a Change Seal to almost any other (again, more on this later). 

It's certainly an intriguing concept, and one which will be interesting to be seen in practice. At any rate, it means that every playthrough (and odds are they'll be many) will be at least a little different.

The other key part of the gameplay is the levelling. 100 experience points for a level, and 20 levels in a class, as always. You need a Master Seal to change class to one of the other ones avaliable to you in that class when you hit Level 10 or over, or a Change Seal in order to revert the character to Level 1, in any of their other classes avaliable when they hit Level 10, or any level if they've used a Master Seal already. Skills carry over, and this can be done as many times as desired. So theoretically if you have the time (and money) you can constantly change the class back down and get better stats and skills.

If that sounds confusing, here's an example. Consider the above character. He's currently a Knight at Level 15. Using a Master Seal, his options are:

Knight -------- General

Knight--------- Great Knight

If using a Change Seal at the same level, his options are different:

Knight---------Theif

Knight---------Priest Note that, if the unit is in their promoted class then they have the option to 

Kinght---------Knight promote to their corresponding promoted classes instead.

It's not a new concept, but it's certainly upgraded. It could provide easier battles, but the time investment and the cost will have to be brought into question. It will be interesting to see how this works out in the actual game.

DLC- Purchased

Fire Emblem: Awakening features 2 different types of DLC; Purchased and SpotPass. The purchased DLC can be bought and played anytime after completing Chapter 5 in the main story from the nearby Isle that opens up. Simply go to the Island, click on "buy map", download the maps you want and then play! You can play an infinite number of times to get an infinite number of items; though note each character you can get from the DLC chapters only appears once.

Here are the currently released DLC chapters (courtesy of SerenesForest):

From 31st January 2013

	Xenologue: Champions of Yore 1 Chrom ends up lost in the Outrealms, where he chances upon an ageing fortune-teller who can use summoning cards to call forth the Einherjar. When a battle breaks out, the fortune-teller aids Chrom by summoning who...?
Reward: Hero-King Marth's Card (allows players to recruit Prince Marth)  Difficulty: 1 star, Price: $2.50 Artist: Senri Kita (Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn)
Chrom is joined by Marth, Ike and Alm as NPC units; their objective is to defeat 10 heroines from previous titles. The enemies on this map are Level 7~8: the weakest DLC foes you'll face. After completion of the mission, Prince Marth will join as a Level 8 Lodestar.
Enemy data (Normal) Battle map: Chapter 1 (Dark Dragon and Sword of Light) Map theme: Battle map 1 Player Attack (Dark Dragon and Sword of Light) Battle theme: Battle 1 Player Attack (Dark Dragon and Sword of Light)

7th January

	Xenologue: Champions of Yore 2 Chrom visits the Outrealm again, this time chasing a mysterious female who's stolen magical cards from the old fortuneteller. The mysterious female uses the cards to summon forth heroic spirits and thus Chrom is forced into another battle...
Reward: Roy card (allows players to recruit Roy) Difficulty: 1 star, Price: $2.50 Artist: Kimihiko Fujisaka (The Last Story)
In a reversal of fortunes, Chrom is joined by Eirika, Lyn and Celica as NPC units and must defeat all 10 male heroes from previous titles. The enemies on this map are Level 9~12. After completion of the mission, Roy will join as a Level 11 Mercenary.
Enemy data (Lunatic) Battle map: Chapter 1 (Dark Dragon and Sword of Light) Map theme: Beyond the Sky (Roy's Journey) (Sword of Seals) Battle theme: Attack! (Sword of Seals)

And here are the stats for the currently released DLC characters:

Name	Class	Lv	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Weapon Rank	Skills
Pr. Marth	Lodestar	8	25	10	2	12	12	8	7	3	6	C	Aptitude, Charm
Roy	Mercenary	11	27	11	1	13	12	6	8	0	5	C	Dual Strike+, Aegis
Micaiah	Dark Mage	12	26	2	13	12	11	14	7	11	5	C	Shadowgift, Rally Luck
Leif	Trickster	1	40	22	20	25	28	24	17	12	6	C  E	Underdog, Locktouch, Renewal
Alm	Dread Fighter	21	50	26	5	21	20	18	22	17+10	6	B  D  E	Resistance +10, Aggressor, Rally Resistance
Seliph	Swordmaster	2	43	22	11	23	28	25	19	12	6	B	Galeforce, Avoid +10, Charm
Elincia	Falcon Knight	6	40	16	18	24	25	19	12	19	8	C  B	Charm, Rally Speed, Dual Support+, Renewal

 
DLC- SpotPass

SpotPass content appears when you've left the 3DS in sleep mode whilst connected to the Internet. A blue flashing light will appear in the corner of the 3DS to indicate you've obtained SpotPass data. To obtain the data, check the "Download Box in the Communications menu when on the World Map, to activate the content. This includes:

Legacy units: These are teams of 10 units (1 legacy unit and 9 Outrealm units) from a particular Fire Emblem title in the past. There's 12 different teams which can all be recruited if you beat the team on the map (appears as a Skirmish), so that's 120 extra units for free. If the team you've downloaded is the newest team, then you need to wait 24 hours between each skirmish; i.e. 10 days before you can get all of the characters.

After defeat, and buying items/recruiting, they will vanish until you summon them again. Note the below stats are for normal mode, and any equipment is not kept when the characters are recruited (again, thanks to SerenesForest for this):

Currently avaliable: 

Blazing Sword

Name	Class	Lv	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	W. Rank	Equipment	Skills
Eliwood	Paladin	20	66	35+5	12	36	36	32	33	20	8	A  B	Brave Sword, Eliwood's Blade	Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Defender, Holy Shield, Sword Expert
Lyn	Swordmaster	18	48	29+5	12	36	39	31	20	16+5	6	A	Sol Katti	Avoid +10, Vantage, Astra, Sword Expert, Acrobatics
Hector	General	20	71	40+5	3	30	31	18	38+7	8	5	E  A	Armads, Hector's Axe	Defence +2, Indoor Fighter, Defence Cry, Great Shield, Axe Expert
Florina	Pegasus Knight	3	19	6	3	9	11+2	8	4	7	7	D	Javelin	Speed +2, Carrier
Matthew	Thief	17	30	13	2	11	21	9	8	2	6+1	C	Steel Sword	Picklock, Movement +1, Wrath
Serra	Cleric	14	23	1	11	13	16	14+4	6	13	5	C	Physic	Miracle, Healtouch, Luck +4
Karel	Swordmaster	8	38	19	5	34	32	24	16	15	6	B	Silver Sword	Avoid +10, Vantage, Astra, Luna
Nino	Mage	10	24	1	11+2	11	14	13	5	8	5	D	Elfire	Magic +2, Focus, Prescience
Jaffar	Assassin	15	52	35	3	40	39	15	28	21	6+1	A  A	Killing Edge	Picklock, Movement +1, Lethality, Pass, Lightning Speed
Nergal	Sorcerer	20	78	21	40	26	23	20	31	35	6	A	Goetia	Curse, Crimson Curse, Vengeance, Magic Slayer, Life Absorb

Sacred Stones

Name	Class	Lv	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	W. Rank	Equipment	Skills
Ephraim	Great Knight	20	71	40	3	35	33	31	36	10	7	C  A C	Brave Lance, Ephraim's Lance	Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Luna, Support Block+, Rightful King
Eirika	Myrmidon	5	19	6	3	9	11	7	5	3	5	C	Eirika's Blade	Avoid +10, Miracle
Seth	Paladin	20	65	35+5	8	33	31	24	32	18	8	B  A	Brave Lance	Discipline, Outdoor Fighter, Defender, Aegis, Lancefaire
Moulder	Priest	14	32+5	8	12	16	15	5	6	13	6	C	Physic	Miracle, Healtouch, HP +5
Lute	Mage	17	27	1	16+2	10	14	15	5	11	5	C	Arcfire	Magic +2, Focus, Veteran
Amelia	Knight	7	24	9	2	6	7	12+4	10+2	5	4	D	Iron Lance	Defence +2, Luck +4
Innes	Sniper	12	45	29	3	28+2	31	25	21	16	6	A	Innes' Bow	Skill +2, Prescience, Accuracy +20, Support Block+
Marisa	Swordmaster	5	38	22	13	31	33	28	14	13	6	B	Killing Edge	Avoid +10, Vantage, Astra, Tantivy
L'Arachel	War Cleric	18	48	19	26	21	28	33	15	28+2	6	B  A	Bolt Axe, Fortify	Resistance +2, Demoiselle, Rally Luck, Renewal, Rally Resistance
Lyon	Sorcerer	20	60	28	35+5	23	21	4	33	35	6	A	Goetia	Hex, Anathema, Vengeance, Tomebreaker, Tomefaire

Items: Rare items are added straight to the convoy after being downloaded from the Download Box. You can only get one of each per save file, duplicates can be found in the paid DLC.

Currently avaliable: None

Side missions: Additional missions can be attempted after Chapter 25. These, unlike the paid chapters, are related to the story and allow you to recruit previously un-recruitable characters. The structure is the same as any other side-mission in the main game, so you can only attempt each one once.

Currently avaliable: None

Dual Tag opponents: Exclusive teams are added to the local co-op mode.

Please be patient!

What do you want explaining? The series as a whole, the one game, or something else?

There were several high profile games for the 3DS in 2012, like Resident Evil: Revelations, Metal Gear, Tekken, Mario&Sonic, One Piece, Kid Icarus. Not to mention several high profiles games in the second half of 2011. So I think nothing to complain about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UJ_41CmPwRQ

A video of the class system as a whole. I would embed it but my computer dislikes it >.

Yay Fire Emblem! I'm happy they liked it :)

It's been a while since I've played a FE game :( Hope it comes to the west ASAP

TBH, from what I've seen there isn't that much of a 'drastic change', but more smaller, subtle changes.

For example, there seems to be more of a focus on magic-melee classes, as can be seen in the video. There also seems to be more of a focus on co-operation and support between party members, which eventually ends up with love, marriage and children, who can fight with you.

Also, the DLC seems to point towards there being more old characters joining the fray, like Marth, or Innes. 

Aside from that, pretty standard FE-fare. But that's all we wanted anyway!

I will definitely be buying it when it is released over here

It's coming to the EU by year's end:

http://www.destructoid.com/fire-emblem-awakening-confirmed-for-european-release-222503.phtml

With NoA's track record, that means December 2014 in America

Oh, the wonders of a european 3DS. Euro-Reggie is so much better than Reggie

And the weird thing is, I have no clue what his actual name is. I doubt many people do.