I played Awakening on Hard Mode without a lot of grinding so I didn't have too much of a problem with the balance. However, I did try Lunatic afterwards and I kept on getting my ass kicked. I don't really have a problem with the grinding even though it does make the game easier but I opted not to grind all that much.

I also really liked the DLC chapters. Seeing characters from previous games and having them fight alongside you is awesome, I didn't feel it was overpriced either. I also enjoyed the story, characters and support system a lot.

I completely disagree on Shadow Dragon > Awakening. Shadow Dragon felt very dull when I played it now granted, it's a remake of a Famicom game but I still enjoyed Awakening a whole lot more. I do agree that some units can be ridiculously over powered. Coming from a big FE fan for about 5 years now, I didn't have a lot of problems with Awakening it's one of my favorite FE games although, my favorite is still Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals.

I suppose whether you like or hate the changes in Awakening depends on how "hardcore" of a Fire Emblem player you were, because the changes definitely wrecked the metagame that made high-difficulty runs in games like FE 9, 10, and 11 more thrilling.

For me, who likes to play on lower difficulties, but also disdains grinding for the most part (i only did grinding with characters i wasn't using in my core group, and that was only to get all of the first-gen mothers married off), the changes were largely irrelevant. Now, my desire to unlock all of the children led me to beat all of the paralogues (and then i played up to Walhart's paralogue, but that one was too hard even with my stacked-out team on normal) which flooded the team with EXP so the late-game was a cinch, but the way i chose to play didn't mess with difficulty too much, indeed the later chapters of the campaign against Plegia were fairly challenging, iirc.

I feel that you took a "less is more" approach to Fire Emblem Awakening. The series had to Evolve to be better. It's true the more you grind the easier the game was, but that was entirely your choice. It's basically set up for how much time you want to put in the game.

Making a character in game, marrying one of the characters of your choice, the strong bonds that your character and other characters develop with each other, and all the other interaction that you had in Awakening that weren't possible in other Fire Emblem games seemed to have no affect on your final score of the game. It's because of all this character development I place this one 2nd best on my personal list.

The Story was a little more than Decent IMHO. The time twist was something resembling that of Dragon Ball Z with Trunks. I would rate it an 8 out of 10, though I place it behind Radiant Dawn, Path of Radiance, and Blazing Sword.

The Graphics I think were above average. I remember playing it on 3D mode and seeing the smoke from the fire looking literally like its coming up to me, while I remember the birds flying over the map standing out like they are really there as well. Biased Review... Indeed.

Then again, it's entirely your own opinion and I respect it. I'll write my own review if I feel cheated right?

I've never played a Fire Emblem game and honestly was never interested in it until a saw lucina and robin in smash bros and now I want to play Awakening really bad. If I jump into the series at awakening will I be okay storywise or will I be lost and would have to start the series on a different game?

You'll be fine...

Not every game is connected, and any holes that might exist are hardly filled with plot twists...

There's a great Fire Emblem Wiki that should be able to answer any questions that would arise...

Just google Fire Emblem Wiki...

Good review. However I would give it a 2.5/10 because it's not on Nintendo Wii U and damn it we need fire emblem games :(. Nothin against 3ds but I have no intention of buying another handheld. I have never been a fan of them. Not saying they are bad of course and a lot of the games are great, I just prefer a large screen with PC or console. I think Nintendo would benefit themselves greatly by porting many of the 3ds games, especially the the fire emblem franchise to the Wii U and implementing functions that work well with the Wii U controller. Just my opinion tho.

Thank you :)

You're welcome...

They change the game in order to be fun for the casual crowd. I still enjoy the game and think you're review is a little harsh and this game deserve at least a 8/10 or more. I started the game on normal and a few hours in it, I restarted on Hard more.... that's the way it was meant to be played. The game does require you to grind the newly acquired character on Hard mode and it's way too easy for them to die. Lunatic has the name of the difficulty would imply is only for extreme hardcore gamer.

It's probably the best one for newcomers, honestly