But there is no excuse for forcing me to click through a series of intrusive menus just to complete a turn. Chalk it up to being unable to permanently list stats on-screen, I guess. But, conversely, those improvements also work to highlight just how crucial being able to fast forward through most of the game is.Įvery button press feels laborious, as any time you select a character you’re forced to sit through a sluggish menu system that – for some odd reason – wasn’t able to be tied to any other input. Nintendo knew there was no sense in releasing SDBoL without the ability to speed up turn phases, and as such, have implemented a few nice, quality of life improvements. Everything is slow, monotonous and intent on testing my patience. Not necessarily due to its difficulty, but more so because the antiquated mechanics have aged about as gracefully as a ham sandwich left in the sun.

And that’s precisely what holds SDBoL back from ever hoping to feel relevant again. But, more importantly, Three Houses was a fascinating, intriguing RPG that separated itself from the pack because it felt so modern. It was never shy about swinging the proverbial blade of permadeath over my head. I was hooked on the way it mixed high-stakes storytelling with dramatic, turn-based gameplay. It’s the game that got me into the series – as I’m sure many others could also attest to. Admittedly, I’m a big fan of Three Houses.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & The Blade of Light (SDBoL) is the sort of game that exists to remind us that the term “dead and buried” shouldn’t be ignored.

Fire emblem shadow dragon