Fire Emblem Warriors

The malleable quality of Fire Emblem's weapons-triangle and pairing systems make them a natural fit for the hack n' slash genre. Even when I could barely tell what was going on on the crowded battlefield and my troops were a little too codependent, I enjoyed directing the action and jumping in to be part of the carnage. And while Fire Emblem Warriors makes poor use of the Fire Emblem universe's story and history, we still get traces of the relationships between the characters that make it memorable.

Fire Emblem's heroes are a natural fit for a Warriors game, but their world adds little depth to the aging and shallow hack-and-slash series.

A harmonious meeting of two traditions, Fire Emblem Warriors explores a different, yet no less beguiling, type of battlefield strategy.

Don't let Fire Emblem Warriors get lost among the many Switch releases

Fire Emblem Warriors manages to stay consistently entertaining despite pacing issues and an uneven balance between action and strategy

With the power to pick up the Switch tablet and storm through History on the go, Fire Emblem Warriors is still going to get some play in my house despite its issues. It follows a set formula with very little in the way of risk-taking, but so long as you can stomach the idea of warring kingdoms with very little at stake other than your level-up bar, it'll probably delight you too. With some DLC meat on these bones it'll likely be a long, wild ride.

Fire Emblem Warriors lacks charm but compensates with spectacle.

Fire Emblem Warriors on the New 3DS is always going to remain in the shadows of its more visually impressive sibling, but if you put aside the visual trappings and focus entirely on the gameplay, there's actually very little difference between them aside from the removal of the enjoyable co-op mode.

Fire Emblem Warriors will be a great spin-off title for fans of the modern Fire Emblem games, with solid gameplay to boot.

The marriage between the Warriors and Fire Emblem franchises has yielded one of the deepest and most engaging games the Warriors series has done to date.