QS stands for “Quickshot”, a series of short form review/preview/opinion articles.
Mobile games have a bit of a bad reputation, and it isn’t difficult to see why. They’re a dime a dozen, usually littered with ads and intrusive pop-ups, include predatory microtransactions that twist the truth in their “free-to-play” claim, and are often low-budget productions that exist solely to siphon money from your wallet and kill time for a bit. You’re even sicker of the very concept of mobile games if you spend any amount of time on YouTube, where hundreds of shoddily produced and annoying ad campaigns keep running without cease (Raid Shadow Legends, anyone?).
If you ask me, though, mobile games get a bit of a bad rap when it comes down to. If you put in the effort to look, you’ll find a few gems in the rough in the mobile gaming landscape. There’s the heavy hitters, like Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, and Pokémon Go, that while they each have their own problems, they are solid across the board. Smaller and lesser known mobile gaming goodness can be found in such apps as Color Switch and Jetpack Joyride (which actually got a physical board game adaption just recently).
But today, I want to shed the spotlight on my pick for the best, free mobile game available: Fire Emblem Heroes.
Released in early 2017, Fire Emblem Heroes stands head-and-shoulders over the rest of the “free-to-play” competition. The game is beautiful in the visual and audio department, and runs on almost all phones with quick loading and zero technical issues. The user interface is sleek and easy to understand, and a copious number of help screens, tutorials, and tips guide new players towards success.
FEH (as the game is most commonly abbreviated) is a condensed but no less strategic variation on the Fire Emblem series of games. It’s a strategy game, wherein your victory falls down to tactics and planning, no luck whatsoever. Battles take place on small grids, and you and your enemy take turns moving units from square to square and fighting it out. Certain units are good against others, and everyone can be viably tweaked to serve your grand design. Basically, imagine chess, but with a healthy dose of anime.
FEH is also a gacha game, which is a term that references games that employ a “vending machine” style of design. In essence, winning battles and completeing quests in FEH awards you with orbs, which you can then spend to unlock new heroes. The hero you unlock is randomly selected from a large pool, thus lending the game an element of gambling. As it is with all gacha games, the player needs to have a firm control over their wallet or else they might develop a gambling addiction. It happens easier than you might think.
At the same time, FEH makes it easier than any other mobile game to avoid spending a single cent. Orbs are given to the player hand over fist, a wide variety of free characters are given to everyone throughout the year, and special summoning events make it as easy as pie to snag a few fun units to play with. It is entirely possible to love this game and dominate your foes with a specially crafted team formed purely through playing the game and paying no money. You can’t say this about many other mobile games.
What I’m getting at is that this game is really good, and the pinnacle of what mobile games should aspire to. If you’ve got a bit of spare time, and a bit of spare space on your phone, you should give this engaging, brain-teasing strategy game a try. It’s pretty awesome, and gets my wholehearted recommendation! I mean, I’ve been playing it every single day for nearly 5 years now, so surely that counts for something!
The Contrarian Corner 