I’ve already coplained in a past blog that game after game bangs on my door, begging for me to buy them, but Nintendo probably knocked harder and faster than any developers this year. One reason I say this is because of the way they’ve been pushing a particular franchise of theirs by the name of Fire Emblem, a turn-based strategy game based in a midieval fantasy setting, dungeons and dragons included. Ever since the release of Fire Emblem Awakening for Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo has been working to make this first party franchise another flapship series. This campaign continued with the release of Fire Emblem Fates, and while it wasn’t the most well-received installment, it did succeed in expanding the franchise and enhancing its popularity. Due to these releases, Nintendo has bben giving Fire Emblem more of the respect and attention it deserves, even making a mobile game made in the gatcha game style. Gatcha games are a type of instant battle game where the player occassionally summons fighters that are separated by rarity and elemental affinity. This mobile game, named Fire Emblem Heroes, is made in such as fashion, encouraginf players to either pay for orbs to summon characters from the Fire Emblem franchise or earn them through various levels in which you battle your units against enemy units.

Also on the agenda is the future release of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, a remake of the second game in the series Fire Emblem Gaiden. The story is set in the continent of Valentia, a battle is raging among two warring gods, and a young man named Alm (on the left) who was trained by his knight grandfather to defend against the coming empire of Rigelia. The story also focuses on his childhood friend Celica (on the right) with a goal of visiting the temple of Mila and end the war before it devolves into further chaos. The game is to be released on the 3DS family of systems. I’m very much looking forward to this one in particular because it’s been about a year since the the release of Fates, which was subpar at best. It aims to blend in the elements of the more classic installments with the modern system of battle that the more recent games have brought to the table, set in a world that westerners can experience for the first time and Japanese fans can experience again but better.

The third announced release came in the form of the third title: Fire Emblem Warriors. This one was special in particular, a collaboration between Intelligent Systems, the primary company behind Fire Emblem, and Koei Tecmo, well known for their Dynasty Warriors series where the player takes control of a historical Chinese general and mows through waves of infantry en masse. This was an installment that was well awaited by fans for years, as the gameplay style of DW and the setting of Fire Emblem go very well together. In fact, though not released by either company, a game was released in 2008 for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in a very similar vein. Not much informaton has been released yet outside of a teaser trailer and a very short gameplay trailer, but so far only five characters have been confirmed so far, Corrin, the main protagonist of Fates; Xander and Ryoma, pivotal characters also hailing from Fates; Marth, the original Fire Emblem protagonist; and Chrom, the main protagonist of what was meant to be the last Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Awakening. The play style will be just the same as a regular Dynasty Warriors game: one man waving away flurries of insignificant foot soldiers with very elaborate combos and map-wiping special attacks. The game is set to release not only on the 3DS family of systems, but Nintendo’s new Switch console.

Out of these three games, the only one that has been released so far is Fire Emblem Heroes, which came out for iOS and Android devices on February 3rd earlier this year. Both Echoes and Warriors I can predict now are going to be pretty expensive thanks to Nintendo’s business practices of not lowering prices. Even Heroes doesn’t show mercy in terms of the players’ income, as it encourages you to buy orbs and summon to your hearts content for a good version of a unit that you so desire. Either way, I plan on getting all three of these games despite the horrible hole it will leave in my bank, Warriors especially with its Switch release. If I do plan on getting a Switch, that’s another approximately three-hundred dollars to spend on this supposedyl revolutionary console. The only thing I could do is hope that the console, the orbs, and the new games will all be the worth the green it’ll cost me.