Luckily for the entertainment industry, the good-versus-evil trope never gets old. But with “Fire Emblem Fates,” it’s a little more complicated than that.
Released by Nintendo in February, Fans new and old will experience a maelstrom of loyalty and betrayal, life and death, fate and self-determination, fire and blood in this three-game installment of the tactical role-playing video game series. The avatar, Corrin, a royal, is caught in a war between two great nations, Nohr and Hoshido. Corrin’s adoptive family and birth family, respectively, are on either side.
Here’s a breakdown of the three games that examine the main storyline from different angles. In “Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest,” Corrin sides with the Nohrian family he/she grew up with, in “Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright,” Corrin chooses his/her Hoshidan birth family, and, in “Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation,” Corrin takes the middle path. Having three different games gives the story a multi-faceted and unique quality.
Each game has two more chapters than its predecessor, “Fire Emblem Awakening,” which came out in 2012. “Birthright,” “Conquest” and “Revelation” share the same first six chapters. While the storyline is mostly easy to follow, the pacing at the beginning of the games is slow, but, as the plots progress, they also thicken and pick up speed, with twists and turns and curveballs that players won’t see coming. Difficulty also increases with each chapter as well, and the games, overall, have a darker and bloodier feel than “Awakening” and introduce more questions than they answer.
“Birthright” is the easiest of the three games, with unlimited chances for experience point gains and gold, while “Conquest” introduces more restrictions, like limited turns for certain maps, and less chances for gaining experience and gold. “Revelation,” much like Corrin, occupies the middle ground, but with respect to difficulty.
There are still three levels of general difficulty in these games: normal, hard and lunatic. But, in addition to casual and classic modes, in which fallen units return in the next chapter, and fallen units die and do not return, respectively, players have the option of “phoenix” mode, which is where fallen units quickly return to battle after each turn. Whereas in classic mode, where each move counts, phoenix mode offers players a chance to focus more on quickly advancing instead of having to ensure that each character stays alive. The only caveat is that phoenix mode is only available if the player choses normal difficulty; however, players can change the difficulty/mode at any point.
This game’s fight scenes and transitions are similar to its predecessor’s but are sharper and more dynamic. The characters’ motions are more fluid, and, although the graphic design is nearly identical to that of the previous game, it is the subtle intensity of the 3-D graphics in “Fates” that really establishes the series’ growth as a work of art. Along with better graphics, “Fates” features beautiful, intricate, vivid artwork, and the game’s aesthetics nicely complement the storyline and masterfully-composed soundtrack.
Regarding the actual gameplay, those who are familiar with “Awakening” should have no problem adjusting to the style of “Fates.” The biggest changes are that weapons do not have uses, meaning that they will not break after a certain number of hits; however, healing tools still have uses. To make up for that, though, some maps have patches of terrain that will heal the characters standing on them, which is a very helpful feature if one’s short on healing items or healers. Most maps also have spots called “Dragon Veins” that alter the terrain or even do something to damage the enemy or heal your allies. For example, characters, who must have royal dragon blood to activate a vein, can turn an impassable lake into traversable ground.
“Fates” brings back the support system, in which characters get stat boosts from pairing up with other characters. Most characters can form C, B, A, A+ and S-rank relationships with each other and pair up during battle. Achieving S rank means that the characters marry, and a new paralogue, which is a side quest, will open, giving players a chance to recruit couples’ children. Achieving an A+ rank, a new support rank, allows characters to reclass. Characters can only achieve one A+ rank and one S rank. Perhaps the most progressive feature of “Fates” is the possibility of same-sex S-rank relationships. In “Birthright,” a female Corrin can have an S-rank with a character named Tharja. In “Conquest,” a male Corrin can form an S-rank with a character named Niles.
Closely related to the support system is the method of reclassing, with more seals allowing more reclassing options. With new classes like Butler and Wolfskin on the Nohr side and Mechanist and Basara on the Hoshidan side, characters reclass according to their relationships. Along with a master seal, which allows a character to level up his or her class, a friendship seal allows him or her to reclass based on whom he forms an A+ rank with, and a partner seal allows him or her to reclass according to his or her spouse. A heart seal allows characters to reclass and obtain skills without losing levels or stats.
A neat characteristic of these games is that, since they concern the same universe, characters overlap. Enemies in “Birthright” are allies in “Conquest,” and vice versa, and, in “Revelation,” gamers can recruit characters from both sides. Fans of “Awakening” will also be pleased to see several playable characters from the previous game, albeit with slightly different appearances, hinting that “Fates” chronologically occurs before “Awakening.”
The games’ makers purposefully distort image of the characters on the opposing sides in each version to demonstrate how perspective can alter a person’s image of another, offering a lesson on taking sides. That Corrin must choose between his/her two families, or to forge a middle path, only makes this message more poignant. There aren’t any difficult, plot-altering choices to make like there were in previous games; nonetheless, characters’ actions have life-or-death consequences.
“Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright” and “Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest” are available as hard copies or download codes on Amazon and at GameStop and Best Buy. “Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation” is available in both games under “Explore Paths” on the start menus, and it is also available as a download code on Amazon and at GameStop and Best Buy.
Photo credit: J. Brown
