[5] The gameplay, like previous Fire Emblem games, focuses on the tactical movement of characters across a grid-based battlefield and fighting enemy units.

Over the course of the story, Chrom's army travels across Ylisse and defends it from undead invaders called the Risen and attacks from the hostile nation of Plegia.

Relationships also have a direct impact during battles, with certain character pairings granting positive effects such as increased mobility or an automatic guarding action.

Fifteen years prior to Awakening, the last Exalt of Ylisse, Emmeryn's father, waged a religious war against Plegia, which greatly damaged both countries and left bitterness on both sides.

He leads the Shepherds again when Emperor Walhart of Valm threatens to invade Ylisse, and during the campaign "Marth" returns and reveals to Chrom that she is actually Lucina.

To combat Grima, Chrom must perform the "Awakening", a ritual that grants him Naga's power, by combining the Fire Emblem with five magical gems divided among the nations.

The original planning for Fire Emblem Awakening began in 2010, when Nintendo SPD director Genki Yokota was finishing his work on the Wii game Xenoblade Chronicles.

[29] Due to declining sales of the series, the developers were told by Nintendo that Awakening would be the last Fire Emblem game if it failed to sell above 250,000 units.

Eventually, the team decided that these elements would alienate rather than attract players and stuck to the medieval setting and style of previous Fire Emblem titles.

[30] As a compromise, the team decided to make it the "culmination" of all the games in Fire Emblem series to that point, incorporating gameplay elements from multiple titles.

This approach was approved by the team and the proposal was completed within a month, though the decision also created difficulties with choosing which elements to include, and how to balance them so they did not clash with one another.

As development progressed, the team continued to come up with ideas that increased workload, but they maintained a positive attitude and pushed forward in spite of the consequent pressures.

They were also able to add more unique character expressions than previous Fire Emblem games, enabling a greater emotional range during scenes of drama.

[35] According to team members, their request to Studio Anima was to make the world "come alive" during the full-motion sequences, which were included at crucial moments in the plot.

[4] One of the more controversial ideas that made it into the final game was the "Casual Mode", first introduced in New Mystery of the Emblem to give the player the option to play with or without permadeath.

[44] Various artists have contributed illustrations for the downloadable characters, including those who have worked on previous titles, such as Senri Kita, and newcomers, such as Kimihiko Fujisaka.

[45] One of the DLC maps received censorship upon release in North America and Europe, with a shot of female character Tharja altered to hide her underwear.

[46] Fire Emblem Awakening has received widespread critical acclaim, holding an aggregate score of 92/100 on Metacritic, based on 72 reviews.

[52] IGN's Audrey Drake called Awakening "the most fluid and stunning strategy RPG experience available on a portable, and features the best storytelling and production value of any 3DS game to date.

[48] Ray Carsillo of Electronic Gaming Monthly, while sharing Parish's opinion on the lack of a restart option, called Awakening "probably the best Fire Emblem to come to the States yet.

[51] GameTrailers said that the game "takes positive strides forward with new additions like enhancements to the social system and battle mechanics, and the series’ established formula is all the better for it.

[53] Alexa Ray Corriea, writing for Polygon, said that the development team had "added just enough to the time-tested Fire Emblem formula to bolster its challenges without cutting away its roots.

"[54] Chris Carter of Destructoid, similar to Famitsu, recommended it to old and new players, saying: "If you've been itching to get into a Fire Emblem game, this is a great place to start.

"[49] A blacksmith known online as Man at Arms received a large amount of media attention when he created a replica of Chrom's Falchion sword from the game.

[80] Demand for the limited Japanese bundle also exceeded Nintendo's expectations, as the pre-order website crashed from the number of people trying to buy it.

As marketing the game as any product other than a limited edition would have violated a Japanese commercial law, Nintendo were unable to reopen the pre-orders after the initial sales period despite complaints.

[88] The game's strong sales, well exceeding the initial figures set by Nintendo during production, ensured that the Fire Emblem series would not be canceled.

[93] Chrom was considered for the game but was deemed too similar to other Fire Emblem characters on the roster at the time, so his appearance was relegated to small non-playable cameos.

[98] A free downloadable content mission allowed the characters in Fates to visit the setting of Awakening, mere moments before the latter's campaign began in earnest.

[99] Chrom and Lucina are both playable units in Project X Zone 2, and multiple characters from Awakening are featured in Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, a crossover with Atlus's Megami Tensei megafranchise.