Nintendo is bringing a unique experience to their beloved Fire Emblem series, as in Fire Emblem Fates you are faced with the difficult choice of an alliance with one of two battling kingdoms.
In Fates, the player is a prince or princess of Hoshido, kidnapped at a young age and then raised by the Nohrian royal family, which presents a difficult decision when it comes down to choosing between the two of them.
In Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright, the player has chosen to return to their birth-family. Birthright offers a ‘classic’ Fire Emblem experience with easier access to gold and more experience points, making it ideal for newcomers to the series.
In Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest, the player has chosen to side with the people they’ve come to know and love as their own family. Conquest is a bit more challenging than Birthright, with limited resources and an emphasis on careful strategy.
Fire Emblem Fates uses many familiar tools previous players of the series will recognize, such as the weapon triangle and the Classic difficulty setting, which can result in permanent character death if you’re not careful. There’s also the Casual mode to allow fallen allies to return after the battle’s conclusion, and the Phoenix mode, which lets allies immediately return to the fight at the start of the next turn.
However, there are several new features as well. For instance, landing on Dragon Vein spaces on one of the many grid-like battle maps with either Hoshidan or Nohrian royals will alter the battlefield in dramatic ways. Another new feature present in all versions of Fire Emblem Fates is an area called ‘My Castle’, which is self explanatory.
Players can use their castle to prep for upcoming battles, use it as a sort of rest-stop to interact with allies in order to build relationships, and there will even be times when the player has to defend their castle against invasions.
The castle will be customizable, allowing for various facilities to be added. These include an Armory for crafting new weapons, an Arena to battle for special prizes in, or Private Quarters for you and your friends. As progress is made in the main story, more can be added to the castle, and existing structures can be upgraded.
Of course, interacting with other characters and building strong friendships — or even romances — has been a staple in the Fire Emblem series, and Fire Emblem Fates will be no different. The more you bond with your friends, the higher the support level goes, and the better characters will fight together. There’s also a feature new to the Fire Emblem Fates games: When two characters reach the highest relationship level, they may even get married, which allows you to use Second Seal items to give spouses the same character class.
Birthright and Conquest aren’t just two sides of the same coin: Both version of Fire Emblem Fates are full-length games with many hours of role-play, unique stories, battles, and interactions with their own twists and turns.
Each side has a myriad of characters to learn about and interact with, though there are a select few who will accompany you no matter which side you choose:
– Gunter, a Nohrian knight and your character’s retainer,
– Felicia, a somewhat clumsy maid who is nonetheless highly skilled in combat
– Jakob, your loyal butler who fights at your side
– Kaze, a ninja willing to give up his life for you, his sworn liege, and
– Silas, a Nohrian-born Cavalier and your childhood friend.
There are also several different types of soldier from both the Nohrian and Hoshidan sides for you to utilize.
For the Hoshidan you have the
– Ninjas, who strike from the shadows, naturally,
– the Oni Savages, club wielders and ferocious warriors;
– Shrine Maidens, who are primarily healers, and
– Diviners, users of spirit magic who use scrolls in battle.
And the Nohrians have the
– Butlers and Maids, who are skilled with shuriken and staves,
– Malig Knights, who use both axes and tomes to crush enemies, and are also skilled at taming evil dragons;
– the Adventurer, bow-wielder and expert treasure seeker, and
– the Wolfskin, a human/beast hybrid reported to feed on humans.
Starting tomorrow, both Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest will be available in retail stores as well as in the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS at $39.99 each. However, after one version is purchased, the other version will then be available for $19.99 from the in-game shop (which appears in Chapter 6).
On March 10th there will be a third path to the story: Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, which follows the player’s choice if they decide to not side with either Hoshido or Nohr. This will be available for download also from the in-game shop for $19.99.
Fans who wish to acquire all three versions at once might be able to pick up the Fire Emblem Fates Special Edition bundle, which also launches tomorrow at select retail locations. The Bundle will include all three games on a single card, an artbook, and a Nintendo 3DS pouch at the suggested retail price of $79.99.
For more information on Fire Emblem Fates, please visit the official website.
Source: Nintendo Press Release
Trailer via Nintendo, YouTube