At some point in Fire Emblem, you will have to make a difficult decision--life or death? Will you reset a mission to save a character, or will you count them a casualty of war? It's a more pressing dilemma than you might think, especially🐽 after resetting a mission for the umpteenth time.

Permanent death has been Fire Emblem's calling card since its inception, and that's no less true in Awakening. It's for that reason that Fire Emblem has a reputation among gamers for being brutal, which is not entirely un-deserved. However, the 3DS version does its share to mitigate the frustration for newcomers, and it would be a shame to miss one of the franchise's best entries in a♕ while.

At its core, Fir♔e Emblem is a traditional turn-based strategy RPG that puts mꦐore emphasis on battlefield tactics than raw customization. Maps are elaborate affairs with lots of obstacles and barriers, such as volcanos in which the floor dissolves into fire and burns player characters. At times, they can feel almost like full-on dungeons, complete with traps, keys, and treasure.