Nintendo’s first “Nintendo Direct” of the year aired on January 18, and had a focus one of their franchises that has enjoyed worldwide success in recent years, “Fire Emblem.” In addition to information on two previously announced titles, Nintendo also surprised the fans with two completely new games.
The direct started with the reveal of “Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia” for Nintendo 3DS. It is a remake of the Famicom game “Fire Emblem Gaiden,” giving western players their first chance to enjoy this unique game in the series. The game is set on the continent of Valentia, in the same world as Archanea, where Marth’s games took place. Valencia is divided into two kingdoms. The first is Zofia, a prosperous and peaceful kingdom where the people have become irresponsible and hedonistic due to their goddess providing everything they need and the people do not have to work. By contrast, the kingdom of Riegel is a strong and militaristic nation where the people work hard, but are cold and devoid of compassion thanks to the teachings of their god. The two kingdoms shared a peaceful coexistence, until Riegel declared war on Zofia. The game focuses on two protagonists, the young warrior Alm, and the priestess-in-training Celica, as they fight back against Riegel.
“Gaiden” was known for deviating heavily from the “Fire Emblem”formula by introducing a world map, optional battles for more experience and branched promotional trees, that would not be seen again until “Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones” and later in “Awakening” and “Fates.” “Gaiden,” on the other hand, went further by introducing freely explorable towns and dungeons similar to a standard RPG. In the dungeons, the usual strategy battles begin when encountering an enemy. “Echoes” will keep these elements intact while updating the visuals to 3D graphics in a similar style to “Awakening” and “Fates.” In addition, Nintendo will release amiibo figurines of Alm and Celica, which currently serve an unknown purpose. Fans will not have to wait too long as “Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia” will be released on May 19, along with the new amiibo.
The Direct next revealed that a new “Fire Emblem” game is going to be released on Nintendo Switch. This is the first game in the main series to be released for a home console since the Wii game “Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn” in 2007. No details were given for the game, but it is planned to be released in 2018.
Next on the list of announcements was the reveal that “Fire Emblem Warriors” would be released on the New Nintendo 3DS, along side the previously announced Switch version. The game is a “Dynasty Warriors” style game with “Fire Emblem” characters, similar how “Hyrule Warriors” featured characters from “The Legend of Zelda.” The only gameplay shown so far was a brief clip of Chrom from “Awakening” cutting down an army. However the preview trailer also showed several swords from the series, such as Yato, Raijinto and Siegfried from “Fates” and the original Falchion from “Shadow Dragons and the Blade of Light, and its remake “Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.” This implies that Corrin, Ryoma, Xander and Marth will also be playable. “Fire Emblem Warriors” will be released in Fall 2017.
Finally, viewers were given an in-depth look at “Fire Emblem Heroes,” a previously announced mobile title. Players take on the role of a summoner in the Order of Heroes in order to help defend the Kingdom of Askr against the invading Emblian Empire. In order to do so, players must summon the heroes of past “Fire Emblem” games to serve as units in their army. The game play is the same as past games in the series, but the maps are small enough to fit on a standard smartphone screen. The game has been confirmed to be a free download, but offer in-app purchases to get more orbs to summon heroes. The game was confirmed to be released on iOS and Android on February 2 after a vague statement that the iOS version would be released “soon.” Preregistration has begun on Google Play, but not on the App Store. In the meantime, players can vote on which characters they want to see in the game. Apparently it is not strictly limited to heroes, as villains are also present on the ballot.
Gentleman Gamer 