Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the fifteenth installment in the Fire Emblem role-playing/strategy video game series. This particular game is a recreation of the 1992 title, Fire Emblem Gaiden.

In this game, the players follow the lives of Alm and Celica, the main characters, during dangerous times of war. Both characters desire to bring peace to the lands, and meet others who decide to join them on their journey to save their world from ruin.

Fire Emblem Echoes provides the players with an intriguing set of characters that can be used in Alm’s and Celica’s armies to fight against their enemies. This is where the strategy and combat aspects of the game comes in. When in battle, each character in an army is called a unit. A certain number of select units can be chosen prior to a battle, depending on what units the player wants to use. These units can only move, heal allies, or attack opponents once per turn. Each unit has a certain distance they can move, based on their movement stat and “class.” A class specifies the type of fighter a unit is. For instance, one unit can be a mage, while another could be a cavalier. It is up to the player to decide what classes they want their units to be.

Along with the units come their “stats.” A unit’s stats depict their strengths in specific areas. A unit’s stats consist of attack strength (ATK), skill, speed (SPD), luck (LCK), defense (DEF), resistance (RES), movement (MOV), and health points (HP). These stats determine how powerful a unit is in combat. Stats can be raised if a unit levels up, which is essential as players carry on in the game.

In addition to this, there is also a dialogue system intertwined with the combat system. If a pair of units bond during battle, which means that they stand next to each other as they fight, the player will have the opportunity to view dialogue between them. This dialogue provides the player with a deeper insight into the diverse cast of characters, and enables them to become much more invested in these characters.

Units also require weapons to fight with. Weapons can be found in certain areas of the game, or purchased. Any weapons a unit may have can also be improved upon at any blacksmith, which makes the weapon stronger, and in turn, its user stronger.

Although it may appear to be complicated at first, the combat and unit system in this game only becomes easier to grasp the more a player engages in it. If a player needs help recalling a part of this system, there is an option in which they look at a tutorial on how to do something.

There is so much more to the game’s in-depth combat and strategy structure. Through this immersive system, players only become more invested in the game. It makes each player’s experience in the game unique, and gives them the opportunity to have fun with the game.

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