So I honestly don’t buy that many #Warriors games.  I enjoy the series, but not enough to keep up with every game; however, a Warriors game with characters from my favorite franchise was impossible to pass up.  I went into this game expecting a certain style of gameplay that I would enjoy and a story that included characters I knew really well, but even my good expectations were pleasantly surprised.

Gameplay:

This was the part of the game that surprised me the most.  I was expecting the hack and slashing and button mashing requirements of all other warriors games, but I was not expecting the elements of strategy that this game added to the fray.  This game managed to include the weapons triangle from #FireEmblem which meant swords would work well on axes but were at a disadvantage against lances.  While you could still overpower the enemy at a disadvantage it was clear having the weapon advantage gave a very significant power boost.  To add to that you can order your ally units around to put them against enemies they had the advantage against.  Having all these options gives an element of strategy that makes you have to plan out your orders and really think on how to make the most of your allies.  The only fault I had with the gameplay was the character selection.  All of the characters were great ideas but when you consider the weapons triangle, out of all 25 characters eight were sword users and the other five weapon types make up the other two thirds of the cast.

Story:

I know a few people find the story very cheesy, but I really enjoyed it.  It was cool seeing the characters interact and I loved the numerous nods to the previous Fire Emblem games.  Also it was amazing seeing these characters fully voiced so it actually added more depth to the characters.  It was a little weird seeing how some of the combat felt forced, for example some characters arrived at the wrong conclusion quickly and attacked, and that happened in four different chapters.   Overall I enjoyed the story, some of the elements were a little oddly executed but it was an amazing adventure from start to finish.

History Mode:

This game also featured a history mode based off of the previous Fire Emblem games that when finished, unlocked additional characters.  I really enjoyed this mode as it presented new restrictions such as Awakening characters only, or only tome users.  The restrictions really emphasised using the different characters.  This mode offers hours and hours of entertainment and the way the original story elements were re told was incredible.  It was funny seeing how they replaced characters in the story that were not playable with some of the playable characters.

Extras:

There were so many nods to Fire Emblem in this game but one of my favorite things was the support conversations.  It was interesting seeing supports between the characters of different franchises.  A feature not included in the other Fire Emblem collaboration Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE and it was something I really hoped for in that game.  Warriors gives every character one support conversation with every other character in the game and each one is a lengthy conversation that really does a great job in showing how these characters would interact with one another.  Plus as Chrom and Ryoma, Matt Mercer talks to himself.  Another thing I liked was the pairing up of characters.  It was a nice power up that helped when a character was having trouble and it was always a nice sight to see when they attacked together using their special moves.  Robin calls Frederick Freddy Bear and it’s hilarious.

Overall:

I loved this game.  It was an amazing game and I was really glad I bought it.  While it does have the minor flaw of a massive cast of sword characters in a battle scenario where the weapons triangle is present, the game itself has a lot to offer to Warriors fans and the additional elements from Fire Emblem games really made the game something to remember.  I would buy more Warriors games if we saw support conversations and strategic map planning in the entire series so with any luck we will see these elements incorporated in future titles.  I say this is a must buy for Fire Emblem fans and a nice evolution for Warriors fans.