Fire Emblem: Awakening Now Available

The wait for Nintendo’s next high-profile 3DS title is over. Fire Emblem: Awakening, the latest entry in the long running strategy RPG series, hits store shelves and the Nintendo eShop today.

The game chronicles the adventures of the warrior Chrom and his band of fighters as they protect the kingdom of Ylisse from evil. The turn-based strategy gameplay has players commanding Chrom and his allies on various maps, pitting knights, magicians, and other unique unit types against each other. Notable features include the series tradition of defeated units being killed permanently when bested in battle, though the new Casual Mode enables novice players to regain lost comrades when the next chapter of the game starts. Character alliances can also be built on the battlefield, with players able to team up pairs of their choice in battle, and build relationships to the point that characters can marry and have children.

The player will also be able to create a main character of their own design, picking a character of either gender as well as customizing their physical appearance. Players can then make use of the 3DS StreetPass feature to swap information with other Fire Emblem: Awakening players, allowing players to battle and recruit each other’s avatar characters in the main campaign. The game will also be supported with weekly downloadable content in the form of new maps to battle on. Beating these levels will unlock new characters to battle with, including familiar characters from older Fire Emblem games. The first of these maps, which features the legendary hero Marth, is available now for download, and is free until March 5.

Fire Emblem: Awakening costs $39.99 on both store shelves and the North American eShop. In addition, Best Buy and Future Shop are selling a special bundle with a 3DS that comes with a 4GB SD card that has the game already installed, along with special artwork inspired by the series on the system itself. This bundle has a suggested retail price of $199.99

We will have a review for the game up later this week. In the meantime, more information and media can be found at the game’s official website.