| Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia | |
|---|---|
 Box art featuring dual protagonists Alm and Celica | |
| Developer(s) | Intelligent Systems |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Toshiyuki Kusakihara Kenta Nakanishi Genki Yokota |
| Producer(s) | Masahiro Higuchi Hitoshi Yamagami |
| Designer(s) | Naohiro Yasuhara Ryuichiro Kouguchi |
| Programmer(s) | Susumu Ishihara |
| Artist(s) | Hidari Akio Shimada |
| Writer(s) | Sakoto Kurihara |
| Composer(s) | Takeru Kanazaki Yasuhisa Baba Takafumi Wada Sho Murakami |
| Series | Fire Emblem |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Tactical role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia[a] is atactical role-playingvideo game developed byIntelligent Systems and published byNintendo for theNintendo 3DS in 2017. It is the fifteenth installment in theFire Emblem series[b] and a remake of the 1992Famicom gameFire Emblem Gaiden, the second entry in the series. It follows dualprotagonists Alm and Celica as they aim to bring an end to the war through opposite methods, with Alm fighting to resolve the war through battle, while Celica attempts to find a peaceful end through guidance from the Goddess Mila.Fire Emblem Echoes carries over the core gameplay mechanics of theFire Emblem series while incorporating mechanics fromGaiden, likedungeon crawling.
Development ofFire Emblem Echoes began in 2015 following the completion ofFire Emblem Fates. Intended as the culmination of theFire Emblem series on the 3DS platform, several staff members from bothFates andFire Emblem Awakening were involved. The game carried over the unconventional mechanics ofGaiden while expanding and rebuilding the story and gameplay based on recentFire Emblem games and the team's wishes for added role-playing elements. WhileGaiden remains exclusive to Japan,Fire Emblem Echoes waslocalized by8-4. The game released to strong sales worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics for its story, unique gameplay additions and voice acting.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is atactical role-playing game in which players command two armies on opposite sides of a war on the continent of Valentia. There are two difficulty settings (Normal and Hard) and two modes that dictate the fate of characters that fall in battle. In Classic Mode, a fallen unit is subject topermanent death, a recurring mode in theFire Emblem series that removes fallen characters from the rest of the game (though it is possible inEchoes to revive fallen units a limited number of times). Casual Mode enables units to be revived at the end of a battle.[5] The player navigates Valentia using a world map, going to different story-based and optional locations. Environments are split between battle maps similar to earlierFire Emblem games, towns which can be explored to find friendlynon-playable characters who run shops, anddungeons that the player can explore. Encountering an enemy on the world map or in dungeons will trigger a battle.[6][7]
As with otherFire Emblem games,Fire Emblem Echoes uses aturn-based system where each unit on both sides is given their chance to move and act. Battles take place on a grid-based battlefield, with turns being given for players and enemies. During an attack, the view transitions from atop-down perspective to athird-person view.[5] Unlike many otherFire Emblem games, the Weapon Triangle (arock–paper–scissors system where certain weapons have advantages over others) and limited weapon durability are removed. Units instead have standard weapons that last the whole campaign, and they can be given special weapons which replace their standard weapon and grant passive advantages. Each unit can only carry one weapon, which can unlock special Combat Arts as its wielder gains experience points and levels up through battle.[6][8] Combat Arts are weapon-specific special moves that can range from higher-damaging attacks to supportive abilities like swapping places with another unit. Each unit is assigned a uniquecharacter class, with the class dictating their weapon and consequently their actions; archers can attack at a distance, melee fighters are limited to close-range attacks, while mages must sacrifice a portion of their health to perform an action. Once a unit has reached a certain level, their class can be evolved into more powerful versions. Villager NPCs can also be recruited in towns; while initially weak, they can be strengthened and assigned any available character class.[7][8]
Each time a unit is used in a battle in dungeons, their Fatigue meter is filled and their maximum health is decreased. The meter is depleted by either giving that unit gifts or purifying them at special statues found at the end of the dungeon.[5][6] During battles, adjacent allied units can engage in support conversations, dialogue exchanges which impact their relationship and gameplay performance.[5] In dungeons, players can roam freely through a 3D environment with a party of ten, are able to avoid encounters if they wish, and can smash objects or open crates to obtain money and items. Upon engaging an enemy, the perspective switches to the standard top-down battle screen.[5][6] A brand new feature introduced to the series is Mila's Turnwheel, a mechanic whereby players can rewind turns with limited uses to redo moves if they so choose, from as little as one character's movement to as far back as the beginning of the battle.[6][8] In addition,Fire Emblem Echoes featuresAmiibo support, with two of the compatible figurines being main protagonists Alm and Celica, in addition to characters from earlierFire Emblem games: using an Amiibo summons a phantom unit for a single turn at the cost of a character's health. Amiibo not related to theFire Emblem series summon allied monsters, and the Alm and Celica Amiibo can be used outside of battle to unlock special exclusive dungeons.[6]
The main storyline remains the same as inFire Emblem Gaiden. Long ago, the sibling gods Mila and Duma fought for control over the continent of Valentia. Eventually, they called a ceasefire and each took half of the continent. In the south, Mila's worshippers would form the Kingdom of Zofia, a land of plentiful bounty. Over time, however, it spoiled and corrupted its people through complacency. In the north, Duma's worshippers created the Empire of Rigel, a desolate land whose people grew in strength but also became numb to emotion. The game follows Alm and Celica, childhood friends who set off on their own journeys across Valentia in order to restore peace.
After the completion of the game, a new post-game chapter can be started which allows Alm, Celica, and their allies to journey across the sea to Archanea, the setting ofthe originalFire Emblem. While there, a large labyrinth buried in the nearby desert can be discovered. Exploring its depths, various stone tables speak of an alchemist named Forneus who attempted to create the perfect life-form with divine dragon blood as well as reanimating the dead to be subservient, but was sealed within the labyrinth as punishment for his inhumane experiments. At the deepest level, Forneus' "perfect life-form" is encountered: a monstrous being dubbed "The Creation" which serves as the final boss of the labyrinth and is heavily implied to be Grima, the main antagonist ofFire Emblem Awakening.
Fire Emblem Echoes is a complete remake ofFire Emblem Gaiden.[9] The second entry in theFire Emblem series,Gaiden was released in 1992 for theFamicom. The game was notable for breaking away from the gameplay precedents set in its predecessor,Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light; while it retained that game's tactical turn-based battle system, it included new features, such as navigable towns and overworld akin to a traditional RPG, and simplified mechanics. Due to these changes,Gaiden came to be considered the "black sheep" of the series, with many of its new elements being dropped for subsequent entries. Like its predecessor,Gaiden did not receive a Western release.[10][11] Development forEchoes began following the completion ofFire Emblem Fates for theNintendo 3DS in 2015.Nintendo series producer Hitoshi Yamagami thought about developing aFire Emblem game for theNintendo Switch home console, but considered it was too early as the console's specifications were still being decided upon. SeveralIntelligent Systems staff said they wanted to implement features that had to be cut fromFates in a remake ofGaiden. AsGaiden has received little attention up to this point, Yamagami thought they could quickly develop a remake and release it before the Switch's release.[12] An alternative plan was creating an all-new game, but early planning was already in place for theplannedFire Emblem game for Nintendo Switch, so it was considered too late to begin a third original 3DS game.[13] It was initially scheduled for release in September 2016, but they could not reach this deadline without compromising the game's quality, so the release was revised into 2017.[12]
Nintendo staff member Kenta Nakanishi — who was a lifelong fan ofFire Emblem and particularlyGaiden — came on board as a sub-director ofFates, Genki Yokota, was busy with another project. The director for Intelligent Systems was Toshiyuki Kusakihara, who had acted as art director forFates and its predecessorFire Emblem Awakening—he took up the role due to his sympathetic understandingGaiden's unconventional gameplay. Rather than calling it "New Gaiden", the team chose the English word "Echoes" to give it worldwide appeal, enable its differentiation from the other side story projects within theFire Emblem series, and as the potential branding for a new series of remakes.Echoes was intended to be the culmination of theFire Emblem series on the 3DS.[12] The characters were redesigned byHidari, who was chosen due to Kusakihara's frequent praising for his work.[9] Kusakihara had tried to hire Hidari to work on bothAwakening and theFire Emblem trading card game, though he was too busy with other projects. ForEchoes, however, a meeting was set up well in advance and Hidari was able to accept. Hidari's first character design was Alm; he underwent four redesigns, which enabled Hidari to get a handle on the game's artstyle and design the rest of the cast on his own.[12] The game features animated cutscenes byStudio Khara.[9]
According to Nakanishi and Kusakihara, the original story had been underdeveloped compared to laterFire Emblem games; the remake enabled them to redesign the narrative to suit the tastes of modernFire Emblem players.[14] The story ofGaiden was expanded significantly with the inclusion of the core conflict between the two nations that was previously confined to the original version's manual, and cast the character Saber in the role of narrator so as not to limit the scope of the story.[12] Another issue they wanted to address was the original game's poor character writing.[13] The theme of royalty and its impact on the characters was one of the story's new elements. To further emphasize the theme, the characters Berkut and Rinea were introduced, who expanded upon the original themes of duality by acting as opposites to Alm and Celica. Berkut was designed as afoil for Alm, with the latter's common roots contrasting with Berkut's royal lineage.[15] Additionally, the new character Faye was added to Alm's army to add another female character and to add unpredictability for new and returning players.[12] The characters also underwent both subtle and grand alterations, such as Celica being made of royal blood.[16] The team decided to focus on original protagonists Alm and Celica rather than incorporating anavatar as had been done forAwakening andFates. The sibling relationship and their positions in separate rebellious factions was what had originally drawn Nakanishi back towards the game.[14]
The gameplay was rebuilt from the ground up based on the technology developed forAwakening andFates, with its redesign being seen as a necessity with remaking the story due to the original version's "obtuse" mechanics.[12][14] Rather than bring the game more in line with the rest of theFire Emblem series, they preserved the role-playing elements and combined them with more recentFire Emblem mechanics. The free roaming ability had been developed forFates, but quality concerns led it to being cut. AsGaiden had this feature originally, free roaming was considered by the staff ofEchoes to be a "perfect" match. It was also decided to lower the difficulty when compared to the original, allowing both series veterans and newcomers to enjoy the game.[12] While the team considered adding the Weapon Triangle, it would have required adding more characters or altering the original cast, going against the team's intentions. The Marriage system—a mechanic fromAwakening andFates that allowed for the creation of child characters with new storylines and inherited statistics—was similarly not included as it would have disrupted established character relations too much. Despite this, the series' established Support system was added to properly flesh out characters.[13]
The game's music was composed and arranged primarily by Takeru Kanazaki, who had co-composed the music forFates. Kanazaki had assistance from Intelligent Systems composers Yasuhisa Baba and Shoh Murakami; and anime composerTakafumi Wada of Dimension Cruise, who also handled mixing and editing. The composer for the past few entries, Hiroki Morishita, was not involved with the project due to his commitment to scoringFire Emblem Heroes.[17] The official soundtrack was released by Japanese music label Symphony No. 5 on October 25, 2017. It covered five discs of music, with the fifth being a data disc.[18][19] The team used the original game's music, composed byYuka Tsujiyoko, as a starting point for their work. The team attempted to incorporate as many live instruments as possible into the soundtrack. The lyrics for all songs were written by Kusakihara.[18] The vocal ending theme was "The Heritors of Arcadia". With lyrics written by Kusakihara, the song was performed by Japanese singer Janis Crunch. The song was written from the dragon Mila's point of view, describing the passing on of responsibilities to humanity.[18] The English version was performed byBonnie Gordon, who also voiced the character Silque. She became the singer purely by chance, and was worried by the number of high notes in the song due to her low singing voice.[20]
The game was first announced in January 2017 during a Nintendo Direct broadcast dedicated to theFire Emblem series.[10] In Japan, multiple versions of the game were released; in addition to the standard release, there was also a limited edition with a special soundtrack, and a "Valentia Complete" edition featuring the contents of the limited edition with added items, including an artbook.[21] The game was released in Japan on April 20, 2017;[22] in North America and Europe on May 19;[10][23] and in Australasia on May 20.[24] Amiibo figures of the game's protagonists Alm and Celica were released alongside the game.[10] The game features full voice acting—a first for theFire Emblem series—for all but minor characters, but the English release does not include dual audio unlikeAwakening.[7][25] The game'slocalization was handled by8-4, who previously worked onAwakening and the 2008Nintendo DS installmentFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.[26]
Post-release, fivedownloadable content (DLC) packs were released over the following two months alongside smaller free DLC, with a Season Pass giving access to all five packs at a reduced price.[27] The DLC packs were split between new dungeons and maps with exclusive character classes, a prologue to the main narrative, and a collaborative character pack with the trading card gameFire Emblem Cipher.[28][29]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 81/100[30] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 7.5/10[31] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 8.5/10[32] |
| Famitsu | 37/40[33] |
| Game Informer | 7/10[34] |
| GameRevolution |   [35] |
| GameSpot | 9/10[36] |
| GamesRadar+ |  [37] |
| IGN | 7.8/10[38] |
| Nintendo Life | 9/10[39] |
| Nintendo World Report | 9/10[40] |
The game received “generally favorable reviews” fromreview aggregator websiteMetacritic, having a score of 81/100. Japanese gaming journalFamitsu praised the voice acting and more action-oriented story scenes, saying it made the story more entertaining and dramatic.[33] Chris Carter, writing forDestructoid, enjoyed the grand scope and grounded nature of the narrative despite a weaker cast than previousFire Emblem games.[31] Ray Carsillo ofElectronic Gaming Monthly called the narrative "your typicalFire Emblem tale of kings, queens, dragons, and magic",[32] whileGame Informer's Javy Gwaltney said that the narrative and its leads Alm and Celica were the main reason he continued playing the game.[34] Griffin Vacheron ofGameRevolution praised the story's emulation of popularvisual novel games such asDanganronpa and enjoyed both the writing and localization.[35]GameSpot's Heidi Kemps praised the balance between dialogue and combat when portraying the characters,[36] and Chris Schilling ofGamesRadar enjoyed the narrative and singled out Celica's storyline as the better part of the game.[37] Meghan Sullivan ofIGN, while noting the game's very familiar premise, said that the overall story "makes for a good soap opera".[38]Nintendo Life's Morgan Sleeper enjoyed the simplified storyline after the complex structure ofFates,[39] while Daan Koopman ofNintendo World Report admired its scope and the dynamic between the two protagonists' contrasting views on the war.[40]
Famitsu positively noted the general presentation and its impact on the experience,[33] while Carsillo praised the full-motion cutscenes and character portraits.[32] Gwaltney enjoyed cutscenes and battle animations while finding character models "a bit fuzzy".[34] Vacheron lauded the quality of cutscenes and its visual style, while he positively compared to visual novels.[35] Schilling found the subdued color palette and felt that the graphics were created with a lower budget than earlier games,[37] while Sullivan cited the cutscenes as being "well-made".[38] Sleeper praised the graphical variety and the opportunities to see environmental details,[39] and Koopman felt that its visuals were the game's greatest improvement over earlier 3DS games.[40] The voice acting also received general praise for its quality and scope,[c] with the exception of Carter who found it uneven.[31]
Famitsu praised the gameplay for both introducing new elements and updating the mechanics ofGaiden, saying it helped elevate the game above its previous black sheep status.[33] Carter enjoyed the gameplay flow despite finding some of the mechanics underdeveloped.[31] while Carsillo enjoyed combat but noted a lack of variation in victory conditions.[32] Gwaltney mentioned several points where the difficulty became unfair and compromised the more enjoyable elements of battles,[34] and Vacheron found the older mechanics had been successfully retooled to feel satisfying to use.[35] Kemps enjoyed the gameplay and new additions such as Mila's Turnwheel despite the requirement forgrinding to progress past difficult battles,[36] and Schilling praised the gameplay refinements while pointing out its weak map design.[37] Sullivan adjusted to the old-fashioned mechanics and found them enjoyable after the initial shock, praising their implementation but noting several unfair difficulty spikes.[38] Sleeper praised much of the map design and enjoyed how the additional systems expanded the game's combat and tactical options.[39] Koopman positively noted the various key parts of the gameplay elements, calling the combat and exploration segments one of the reasons the game stood out in theFire Emblem series as a whole.[40] The new dungeon crawling segments were generally praised by critics,[d] although Vacheron found them lacking in substance.[35] The omission of the series's recurring Weapon Triangle mechanic also raised comments, with several noting that players would take time to get used to it after experiencing the likes ofAwakening.[e]
During its first week on sale in Japan,Fire Emblem Echoes sold 135,195 units, topping gaming charts and selling through 80% of its initial shipment.[41] Not even a full week into its release,Fire Emblem Echoes became number one on Japan's sale charts. Beating out its 2nd place competitor by 83,526 more copies sold.[42] Upon its debut in the United Kingdom, the game was fifth in the all-format gaming charts.[43] In Australia and New Zealand, the game was second in the all platform gaming charts, and topped 3DS charts.[44] In North America,Fire Emblem Echoes reached seventh place in the all-format gaming charts. According to theNPD Group, the release ofFire Emblem Echoes prompted a rise in portable console sales.[45] In their quarterly financial report, Nintendo stated thatFire Emblem Echoes had been a popular game during the period.[46] As of December 31, 2022,Fire Emblem Echoes has sold 1 million copies worldwide.[47][48]
Shadows of Valentia was nominated for "Best 3DS Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards.[49] It was also nominated for "Handheld Game of the Year" at the21st Annual D.I.C.E. Awards,[50] and for "Original Dramatic Score, Franchise" at the 17th Annual National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards.[51][52]
Several characters fromEchoes were added as playable units in the mobile gameFire Emblem Heroes in early 2017 to commemorate the game's initial launch.[53] Celica was also added as a playable character in thehack and slash spinoffFire Emblem Warriors. Four music tracks taken directly fromEchoes are featured in the 2018crossoverfighting gameSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, along with collectable Spirit artwork of Alm, Celica, and the three Pegasus Sisters: Palla, Catria, and Est. Two gameplay mechanics first introduced inEchoes, being Combat Arts and the ability to rewind time in the middle of battles, went on to be incorporated in the next mainline installment,Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Nintendo Switch.[54] Additionally, the Alm and Celica Amiibo figures can be scanned intoThree Houses to unlock music tracks for use in optional battles.[55]
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