Fire Emblem: Awakening Gets A U.S. Release Date Of Feb. 4

Fire Emblem: Awakening finally has a release date for the U.S., meaning that ‘Merican 3DS owners with a hankering for some strategy RPG action can now officially mark their calendars with a big red circle around February 4.

Fire Emblem: Awakening’s trip to the U.S. has been a long one. The game first launched for Nintendo’s new handheld back in April of this year. It was announced during this year’s E3 that the game would eventually be making its way overseas but, later in the summer, it was confirmed that said release would not be happening until 2013.

So, nearly a year after the game’s launch in Japan, the latest entry in the Fire Emblem series will finally be making its way Stateside in just a couple of months. The announcement was made during this morning’s Nintendo Direct presentation.

Honestly, I’m not even sweating how long it has taken Awakening to finally get here seeing as how several of the series’ titles never made it out of Japan. The fact that U.S. audiences are getting their hands on the game at all should be considered a big win for SRPG fans across the country. Those who own a 3DS, anyway.

Taking a page from the Persona and Jeanne d’Arc series, Awakening players will be able to build stronger relationships with their teammates outside of battle, as well as align in formations on the battlefield in order to gain bonuses. You’ll also be able to design your own soldier, as well as share soldiers via SpotPass and StreetPass.

Look for all of that and more once Fire Emblem: Awakening finally arrives in the U.S. on Feb. 4.