For a more in-depth review of Fire Emblem Warriors, check out Heath’s review of the New Nintendo 3DS version.

Fire Emblem Warriors is another well-polished entry from the Koei Tecmo team that most recently produced the wonderful Hyrule Warriors collaboration with Nintendo.

The latest Warriors game is a huge love letter to fans of the Fire Emblem series. Just like Hyrule Warriors before it, Fire Emblem Warriors is pure fan service. Players still get a lot of the strategy elements they’ve come to expect from the Fire Emblem series, while also getting the over-the-top combat of the Warriors series. While I’m not a big fan of the Warriors series, I did really enjoy Hyrule Warriors even if the combat did get a bit stale after playing awhile. While my love for the Zelda series kept me going in Hyrule Warriors, my casual interest in the Fire Emblem meant the combat became more tiresome a lot quicker in FE Warriors. Fans of the Warriors or FE series should have fun, but I couldn’t keep myself interested in the gameplay for long play sessions.

The New Nintendo 3DS version and the Nintendo Switch version are largely the same. The notable differences are that the 2-player multiplayer mode in the Switch version is not available on the 3DS and the visuals are naturally more crisp on the Switch with more enemies being rendered on the screen at once–a key for Warriors series fans.

Visually, Fire Emblem Warriors looks impressive. I really like the art direction and how everything is so vibrant. I didn’t notice any slowdowns even with dozens of enemies on screen and a lot going on in the game’s world. While the interface is pretty bare-bones, the menus are easy to navigate and there are plenty of in-game tutorials. One thing I particularly appreciated is that the game allows you to choose how much in-game help it gives you. If you’re a veteran, you can choose to not have the game popup a message every time a new gameplay element is introduced–something I wish other games would adapt.

Overall, my time with Fire Emblem Warriors was fun but it’s most certainly more fun for long time Fire Emblem fans. The fan service is top-notch and there are a ton of cool cameos from past characters in the franchise. The cutscenes and visuals are amazing–something I can’t wait to see more of when the next Fire Emblem game comes to the Switch.