It’s been years since Smash Bros.‘s Marth and Roy first drew attention to the Fire Emblem franchise, which until then had been predominantly supported by its Japanese audience.

But now that the tactical RPG series has exploded in the U.S., it can’t be un-exploded, and to get the next installment Fire Emblem Fates we’ll happily jump through whatever meticulous, calculated hoops Nintendo tells us to.

But now, the company known for its gimmicky games surprises us with a new gimmick! Three versions of the same game! (Maybe not a “new” gimmick to Pokemon fans, but done in a new way.)

Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation all involve the same characters and world, and both start the same. However, the three different games all diverge around an early and significant decision of the main character. And each of the three options unfolds three entirely different games, each showing a unique perspective of the same story.

You are a young warrior in the Nohr kingdom. While on your first mission, you are captured by the opposing Hoshido family, who drop this bombshell on you: you were born a Hoshido, but kidnapped and raised by the Nohr.

So here’s your decision: fight for your blood relatives (Birthright), fight for your adopted family (Conquest), or fight for neither (Revelation). Birthright is geared for new players, Conquest for experts, and Revelation as a nice middle-ground.

Which one will you choose?

Ha! Trick question! Choosing only one is for noobs and people who only have a few months to live. True gamers — the ones with the patience to play Fire Emblem in the first place — won’t be satisfied until they’ve played all three. That’s where the Special Edition comes in: all three games come in one cartridge, with special achievements for playing all three.

And the true Fire Emblem fans won’t be disappointed, as the latest installment continues the franchise’s legacy of moving forward and never back. Better features, better graphics, better story.

Fates introduces a lot of new features. First, there’s the new concealed weapon, which can debuff enemy stats. Next is a town-building side-game, not uncommon to RPG games. There’s also a “Dragon’s Vein” features, which provides new options to altering battles, and the “Phoenix Mode” where dead players are resurrected the following turn (only available in Normal Mode). Plus, as expected, a few new classes, weapons, and skills.

Coming from the highly successful Awakening installment, the game keeps the children feature, where you can creates new, playable characters depending on whom you hook up with whom in your team.

The game also enlisted the help of Shin Kibayashi, an award-winning manga and film writer, to spruce up the game’s story and plot in response to criticism about the previous games’ writing. It’s an effective solution, and this game’s dialogue really stands out.

So, will you like the newest Fire Emblem game? If you liked the previous games, you’ll probably like these one… but there are only three ways to find out for sure.

Shut Up and Take My Money: Fire Emblem Fates

You know how new Final Fantasy games aren’t like they used to be?  Well this one is! Bravely Default, for Nintendo 3DS, is the greatest thing to happen to old school Final Fantasy fans since the popularization of cosplay… which is funny considering that it’s technically not part of the Final Fantasy series.

But the name is the only thing that differentiates it – Bravely Default has all the elements of a classic Final Fantasy game, including the job systems, gameplay, enemies, airships… even the four crystals are back!

Bravely Default has the feel of a classic RPG, but updated to satiate the attention-deficits and need for stimulation of our modern times.  (Thanks smartphones…)

The Old: 

For starters, sprites!  Realist characters are fine… but there’s just something about sprites.

But fans of classic RPGs will appreciate the gameplay.  It follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy V, which worked a lot like Final Fantasy Tactics, but with the classic dungeon-crawling and 2D fighting known to other Final Fantasy games.  Basically, it’s like other Final Fantasy games, except you can change between 20+ jobs at will, with each job offering its own special abilities and stat changes.

All your favorite Final Fantasy jobs are there, plus some brand new ones.  There’s the staples Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, Monk, and Knight (Warrior) that have been around since the very beginning, and on top of them there’s Valkyrie (Dragoon by another name), Performer, Ninja, Summoner, and the self-deprecating Dark Knight.  Each job gains levels with Job Points, earned at the end of battles along with Experience Points.  Every new job level unlocks a new job ability, either an action ability used in combat, or a passive support ability equipped outside of combat.

But aside from the old-fashioned RPG gameplay, the other reminiscent feature of this game is its quality storyline.  This is literally the first time in over a decade that a video game moved me and made me think.  As early as the opening movie, the story shows its dark side and lets you know it has a mature awareness.  The plot may be generic (save the world), but the individual scenes and character development, coupled with some philosophical dialogues that made me stop and go “hmmm…”, really reminded me of why I fell in love with RPGs in the first place.

The New: 

Well, it’s in 3D… that’s new…

But more importantly (and easier on the eyes), one of the reasons that RPGs changed is because the old format can’t hold the attention of new audiences.  Grinding – going around fighting random battles for experience points – just isn’t as entertaining as it used to be.  Luckily, Bravely Default reinvents the Final Fantasy fighting system to keep you interested for over 100 hours of gameplay.  They introduce the opinions of “Brave” and “Default.”  Basically, you can either credit or debit your turns!  That means you can do up to four actions in a single turn (but then you can’t act for three turns), or essentially Defend for 3 turns and then unleash a power 4-tiered assault without penalty.  This opens up endless possibilities for strategy, plus makes fights a lot more fun.

Other updates include customizations for both difficulty and random encounters.  At any point in the game, you can switch between Easy, Medium, and Hard (and believe me, Hard is hard!  Talk about appealing to classic gamers…).  You also have the option of doubling the occurrences of random encounters for gaining levels, or turning them off completely, which comes in handy if you want to face a boss with all your HP and MP.

The Final Word:

Games like this only come around once for a console.  Whether you’re a long-time lover of the Final Fantasy series to someone who’s just discovering it… this game will be sure to satisfy.

Check Bravely Default Price on Amazon

Shut Up and Take My Money: Bravely Default