Fire Emblem Fates

Fire Emblem Fates
"🎵You are the ocean's grey waves, destined to seek... Life beyond the shore, just out of reach... Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time... The path is yours to climb...🎵" — Azura
Protagonist(s): Corrin Genre(s): Tactical role-playing Platform(s): Nintendo 3DS Release Date: Birthright/Conquest: JP: June 25, 2015 NA: February 19, 2016 EU: May 20, 2016 AU: May 21, 2016 Revelation: JP: July 9, 2015 NA: March 10, 2016 EU: June 9, 2016 AU: June 10, 2016 Developer(s): Intelligent Systems Nintendo SPD Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Fire Emblem Predecessor: Fire Emblem Awakening Successor: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem Fates is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD, with Nintendo acting as the publisher. It was released in June 2015 in Japan, then throughout 2016 internationally. It is the the fourteenth installment in the Fire Emblem franchise, and the second developed for the Nintendo 3DS after Fire Emblem Awakening.

Unlike previous Fire Emblem titles, Fates was released in three versions, each following a different storyline with the same characters: Birthright and Conquest were given a physical release, while Revelation was released as downloadable content. A Special Edition version containing all three routes pre-downloaded was released on the same day as Revelation.

Why These Paths Are Yours to Climb

1. For the first time in Fire Emblem history, there are three distinct storylines, each with their own units to unlock and difficulty level:
   • Birthright sees Corrin, the protagonist, siding with their biological family in Hoshido and has an easier difficulty for newcomers similar to Awakening.
   • Conquest sees Corrin siding with their adoptive family in Nohr and sees a difficult, more traditional Fire Emblem experience.
   • Revelation, released as DLC, sees Corrin siding with neither Hoshido nor Nohr as they try to find out more about their heritage and contains elements from both of the other routes.
   • Before the game's sales ceased, one could download the other two routes onto the version they had without the need to buy them physically, unless it was the Special Edition version.
2. Many improvements to combat and unit interaction return from Awakening and a few new ones are included as well:
   • The player can customize the player character Corrin as they see fit, including their gender, hairstyle, voice, and accessories.
   • The Pair Up mechanic returns from Awakening to allow for Support bonuses and often dual attacking.
   • The weapon triangle the series is well-known for (swords beat axes, axes beat lances, and lances beat swords) is expanded to include three other types of weapons: Swords and tomes beat axes and bows, axes and bows beat lances and hidden weapons, and lances and hidden weapons beat swords and tomes.
   • Weapon durability is no longer applied to most weapons in this game, with the exceptions of rods and staves, meaning that one never has to worry about their weapons being lost.
   • In addition to the Casual Mode introduced in Awakening, there is a new Phoenix Mode, which quickly resurrects the units once they die; a perfect play style for those who hate constantly dying.
   • Corrin, the Hoshidan Royal Family, and the Nohrian Royal Family can use Dragon Veins, which change the battlefield in some way.
3. Excellent graphics for 3DS standards, with excellent level design to boot.
4. Many memorable characters from both Hoshido and Nohr, including:
   • Corrin, the player character, is a devout tactician/noble who fights to protect the ones they love, despite being quick to apologize. Even cooler, they can use a Dragonstone to transform into a dragon.
   • Azura has a beautiful singing voice and is able to end conflicts between the two sides with her signature song.
   • Queen Mikoto, Corrin's mother, is a wise Hoshidan ruler. Her death at the beginning of the game is very heartfelt.
   • Corrin's siblings from both Hoshido (Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, and Sakura) and Nohr (Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise) are great moral support for their sibling and each have retainers who are usually just as deep and fleshed-out as they are.
   • King Garon, Corrin's adopted father, is an intimidating secondary antagonist who is responsible for most of the events in the game, alongside Anankos.
   • Anankos, Corrin's biological father who Corrin inherited their dragon abilities from, is a decent true main antagonist with a deep backstory and personality.
5. Stellar soundtrack typical of the Fire Emblem series and it often incorporates Asian themes into the music. Some of the great tracks include Lost in Thoughts All Alone (the title theme), End of All (the final boss theme), You of the Light/You of the Dark, Thorn in You, and Alight/A Dark Fall.
6. The player's Castle is an improvement over the Barracks of the previous game, with many features to make it more unique:
   • You can place buildings to do various things, provided you have Dragon Vein Points to spend them: the shops allow you to buy new weapons, staves, rods, and accessories; the Colosseum tests units' fighting skills when resources are bet and increase if you win; the Lottery Shop tests your luck with items, etc.
   • Lillith's Shrine, where the player feeds the dragon Lillith to level her up, can provide bonuses to the Castle when it is attacked during Invasions.
   • Your Private Quarters is more intuitive than the Barracks' interactions, as you can choose who to bring in with you. In the Japanese version, you could even raise Support levels with a face-rubbing minigame.
   • You can visit other players' Castles via StreetPass and challenge the owners to a battle.
7. There are many chapters in the game, as is typical of a Fire Emblem game, with 28 story chapters in each route, 22 Paralogues, and 22 Xenologues as DLC.
8. A good deal of sad/emotional moments are spread throughout the game, such as Queen Mikoto's death in each route, Elise's sacrifice as Xander is about to kill Corrin in Birthright, Ryoma's seppuku death in Conquest, and many more.
9. This is the first Fire Emblem game to include Amiibo support; whenever you scan a Fire Emblem character's Amiibo (such as Marth, Ike, Robin, or Lucina), you can recruit them if you invite them to your Castle thrice.
   • You can also gain these characters' accessories and weapons if they are invited.
10. Good Moral: Sometimes, the correct path is not the easiest one. In this case, Corrin's decision to side with neither Hoshido nor Nohr in Revelation was the right thing to do, but they faced many hardships from both factions as a result until they could convince their siblings to join them.

Bad Qualities

1. The story, unlike its predecessor, is riddled with plot holes and is confusing if only one route is played as opposed to all three.
2. There is a severe lack of moral grey.
3. In Birthright, Xander is poorly written in cutscenes, especially after Elise's sacrifice and, considering how he's written in the supports, essentially being his father's lackey and not recognizing the bad things Garon had done and making Elise's sacrifice in vain immediately after she dies.
   • In Conquest, Takumi isn't any better, as unlike his characterization in Birthright and Revelation, he is a one-dimensional jerk who believes that Corrin betrayed his family and will stop at nothing to kill them.
4. Some unlikable characters here and there, including:
   • Iago and Hans are shallow, bland villains with absolutely nothing to like about them compared to Garon, particularly in Conquest, which gives them bigger roles. The former is a cowardly sorcerer and the latter is a mass-murderer.
   • Zola isn't any better, as he impersonates Izana (the Duke of Izumo) and is willing to kill Sakura and Corrin in a "rejuvenation room" (really an execution chamber), with no one except Gunther wising up until it's too late.
   • Out of all the siblings' retainers, Hana and Peri are the least liked due to their bland personalities and near uselessness in battle.
5. The English acting is a hit-or-miss. Some characters sound fine, such as Male/Female Corrin, Garon, Xander, and Ryoma, while others, such as Camilla, Hinoka, and Iago suffer from poor direction.
6. Some of the character designs, such as with Camilla or Charlotte, are too sexualized and with a focus on fanservice.
7. The face-rubbing minigame is removed in the international versions of the game.
8. Some chapters' missions, particularly Conquest Chapter 10, are infuriating to complete due to the broken AI of your enemies. On top of that, Birthright and Revelation usually have the now-tired "Rout the enemy" or "Defeat the boss" type missions.
9. Sadly, due to the 3DS eShop's closure, you can no longer purchase the other two versions on one game at all, especially Revelation. The only way to play the full game nowadays is through the Special Edition, which can get pricey on eBay and Amazon.

Reception

Each version of Fire Emblem Fates received highly positive reviews from critics and a mixed-to-positive reception from players. Metacritic gave Birthright an 86/100, Conquest an 87/100, and Revelation an 88/100. The game is praised for its grey morality, soundtrack, characterizations, and gameplay, while the requirement of DLC to get the full story, class system, and low-res battle models are criticized.

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