Awakening was intended to be the final game in the series unless the total sales exceeded 250,000 copies, and so the game was filled with homages and features of previous installments. This includes the return of the marriage and inheritance system from Genealogy of the Holy War, the branching promotion trees and free-roam world map of The Sacred Stones, the skill system from various games in the series, and the custom character from Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~. It also included references to previous installments, such as with Owain shouting out the titles of the previous games, the brands possibly referencing the Holy Blood system in Genealogy of the Holy War, and downloadable characters and maps from previous games.