First let me start off by saying I realize this game is an installment in a niche series, but for those who play DS casually or just anybody above the age of 13, this game is so much more. I don't work for GameStop, but I actually did help them review this game for a couple of bucks on their website anonymously, so that's that.

I took a chunk of my life to do some hardcore playing and beating of two versions (English) of FE:F and I couldn't be more satisfied to be honest.

All that being said, here we go.....to the 1 or 2 people who even care

Gameplay:

The gameplay of Fire Emblem games is really polarizing in the gaming community. The way you play the game is like chess, except you move ALL your pieces at once. So in other words, you send your entire force to one spot, you're gonna get picked apart and ultimately lose because you didn't spread your units out precisely. Of course, that's really the part that attracts hardcore gamers like myself to the game. There are a couple of things they tweaked in the game that does ALLOW it to be easier, but there is still the chance to play it like a true Fire Emblem game plays. A couple of differences:

1. Weapons no longer break unless they are healing items. This excludes units that actually have the power to heal others. That is infinite and stays that way regardless of the difficulty.

2. They've added a more immersive element to the game called "My Castle" which allows the character to buy buildings and other things to add to their "castle." This includes things like a lottery, blacksmith, hotspring, private quarters, and mess hall. To buy these, you have to complete missions and get things called "DVP" to purchase them. It's really kind of dumb, but I am not lying when I say that really close matches in the game does wear on you. The "My Castle" part of the game does provide some humor in between missions with funny dialogue, innuendos and support conversations.

3. There is one huge difference about Birthright and Conquest. The difference being that in Birthright, you have the option of leveling your team up outside the actual story by playing constantly spawning side missions, which in all honesty are easy most of the time. In Conquest however, there are no easy level up missions you can play through. HOWEVER, those are not to be confused with what they call "paralogues." These missions allow you mostly to gain new characters, such as your own child, who usually ends up being a dragon. Conquest does get extremely hard towards the end despite the game being put on "casual" and "normal" difficulty. Casual in this game means if your character dies in the battle, they come back the next mission. But if you strictly play normal, when they die, you don't get them back for the rest of the game. This applies to both versions

Story/Plot

This is the best part of the game. The game does an amazing job of getting you immersed in the character relationships and actually getting you attached to certain characters. The basis of the story is that, in a nutshell, you are raised in one kingdom and born in another. After getting kidnapped from Nohr, you're forced to make a decision after getting to know both sides personally (the picture below is that point in the game I'm referencing).

Some parts of the story are incredibly convenient, which critically speaking, does take away a little bit from the story. Nothing really that sticks out like a sore thumb. I would really tell you more in this regard, but it would otherwise spoil the shite out of it.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to this game puts most movie scores to shame. I can say with 100% certainty that it's Nintendo's greatest effort in any of their games EVER. So many cultural themes and influences in different parts of the soundtrack and all of them fit perfectly to the situation they are placed in. There is not one song that's boring to listen to or just lame and unimpressive. Every song and jingle brings a certain atmosphere that's noticeable even if you aren't listening for it. There's flares of Japanese, African, Celtic, Middle Eastern, and general Western music sprinkled across the game and its cutscenes. The best of which I'll explain and link you to in the next category. You won't find another soundtrack like this game's for a long time I can assure you that.

Graphics/Animation/Voice Acting

For a 3DS game, it actually looks great in a relative sense. There are some parts that just look like basic PS1/early PS2 graphics, but it's really just because the hardware doesn't allow it. Even on a New 3DS XL you can't get better graphics GAMEPLAY wise. Now the actual cutscenes are a whole different animal altogether. I don't know the company that does it, but the company that makes Fire Emblem, Intelligent Systems, picked a damn good bunch of animators to do their cutscenes. It's a CGI/Modern Anime mix that I really wish would be made into an anime altogether. The mouth movement does match the words and it's coordinated very carefully, which I'm glad because it makes me rage whenever the words fail to properly mix with the mouth movement. The English version of the games has great voice acting, but a good bit of dumbass weebs will tell you "I can't listen to this shite because it's not Japanese....English VA's suck!!." frick those guys. That's all I can say about that. Here are examples of the animation I'm referring to:

CONS

Despite how amazing this game is in most parts, there are some parts that are just outrageously weird. Most of it being in the "My Castle" mini-games and what not. There's a lot of hit and miss, and the Japanese version is even worse if you decide to import. Obviously, with so many characters, you have the option to marry or get to know them better. Some of these conversations are funny, especially if you're a male, because a good bit of people that allies are what the Japanese call "yanderes" or women that literally are so crazy for you that they resort to killing or violence against any other woman or man that bothers to get close to you. I guess the best way to describe it is some characters talk like that one guy that just isn't afraid to say anything in front of anyone regardless of how embarrassed another person is because of it.

Probably the worst offender of this weirdness is a cutscene of your "big(boobed) sister" in birthright. You see her for the first time in a while and unfortunately for you, it's against her of course. BUT, before the fight can begin, this happens:

Anyway, after all is said and done, this game gets about a 9.7 out of 10 from me. Really, all the things that bring down that rating have nothing to do with the important parts in the video game whatsoever. So don't be afraid to buy it if you're on the fence. It's a very accessible game that offers a lot of different ways to play.

tl;dr:

It's a damn awesome game whatever type of gamer you are.