Fire Emblem Fates (3DS) Review

Mr. Panda 3DS, Reviews May 18, 2016August 28, 2018 14 Minutes

A Strategy Epic Worth Playing Thrice

Following the success of Fire Emblem Awakening, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems were poised to make another new installment in the turn-based strategy RPG series. The question was what direction to take the next game. They could either continue the more casual-friendly Awakening style of gameplay, or they could bring the series back to its more difficult roots found in its classic titles. In a stroke of genius, Intelligent Systems came up with creating two full-length games, presenting different gameplay styles and telling two sides of the same story. They did not stop there, eventually offering a third campaign as DLC intended to finish the story. The end result is a game spanning three 40-hour journeys, gameplay that appeals to a variety of players, and an experience worth playing thrice.

Story

Fire Emblem is a series that is typically story- and character-driven, and Fates provides a compelling tale that is broken up throughout its three installments. You play as an avatar character, who will be referred to here as Corrin. Corrin, a noble of the Nohr family, finds himself in rival nation Hoshido following a mission. There, he discovers that he is actually blood-related to the Hoshidans and that his adoptive father, King Garon, is not all that he seems. He quickly gets involved in an incident that sets up the greater war, in which he encounters the Nohrian royal family, who are his siblings. This leads to the pivotal game-changing moment in which Corrin must choose between his blood-related siblings of Hoshido, or the Nohrian family that he has grown up with. This singular choice is the branching point that leads to the path of Birthright (Hoshido), Conquest (Nohr), or Revelation (siding with neither).

Fire Emblem Fates Corrin — When (s)he’s not busy smashing, Corrin is taking part in strategy RPGs.

As interesting as the premise is, the ensuing story falls flat through much of the actual game. The overall plot is split into these three games, ensuring that you only get bits and pieces from each. The payoff is huge if you play all three since everything fits together in such a neat package. However, just playing one game means you are shut out from major plot elements. In fact, Revelation, which is only recommended after you have played through both Birthright and Conquest, lives up to its name and offers a lot of exposition that brings clarity to the previous two games. Each individual game also feels a little sluggish as a result of this thre-way split. For most of each game, the cutscenes merely serve as explanations of why you are fighting a particular army. The stories ramp up toward the end, but the whole middle of each could have almost been cut out. From a story perspective, the game might have been better told just going through 3 shorter campaigns. There are good gameplay reasons why this is not the case, but the story does suffer as a result.

Nevertheless, the story concept is extremely interesting to the point where it can be hard to decide which campaign to choose. Fire Emblem Fates is a game that lives and dies, quite literally, through its characters. This game is filled with plenty of interesting characters, from the lovable royals of each family to the humorous and quirky units who join you along the way. Even Corrin, who is supposed to act as your avatar, is one of the most vocal, active members of the party. Adjacent units participate in support conversations, adding to the characterization of your units and providing humorous banter throughout.

For a closer look at each individual story, it is now your turn to choose a side. Will you choose Hoshido (Birthright), Nohr (Conquest), or neither (Revelation)?

Fire Emblem Fates Nobles.jpg — Hoshido or Nohr? The choice is yours.

Birthright

In Birthright, you are choosing the side that is clearly “the good guys,” so this story is relatively easy to grasp. That said, most of the game is just a romp towards Nohr. There is even some backtracking towards Hoshido that reveals how difficult it is to make 1 world encompass 3 different stories. Overall, this is a satisfying stand-alone story that could easily serve as an anime plotline. The characters are decent, for the most part, but not as fun as their Nohrian counterparts. Some standout characters include your Hoshidan brothers, and what is essentially a carbon copy of Awakening’s Tharja.

Conquest

Siding with Nohr is the more interesting option in theory. After all, choosing the “bad” side is unique. In addition, the Nohrian royals with whom you grew up are actually fun, nice people, despite it all. However, the story stumbles in execution, leading to a Corrin who continuously makes poor decisions and doesn’t know what to do with himself. Most of the story is told in a mission structure, with Corrin reluctantly accepting King Garon’s orders to invade neighboring tribes. Luckily, the characters more than make up for it, with Conquest having the more interesting and quirky party members. A superhero, a gentle giant, and a two-faced money grubbing woman are among your ranks.

Revelation

Revelation is the most engaging storyline, provided you’ve played both Birthright and Conquest. While all 3 stories harbor pieces of the puzzle, Revelation contains the majority of truths that will help you appreciate everything you’ve played and entice you to reach the conclusion. Many of the truths reference the other 2 games, so their worth depends on your commitment to playing all three. Nevertheless, its story is certainly the most engaging, and little time is wasted. Character-wise, you will have a much larger selection to choose from. Without spoiling anything, Revelation is the one that feels most complete.

Gameplay

Maps and Battles

The gameplay for Fire Emblem Fates is tried-and-true turn-based strategy, which has worked well for the series thus far. In all three games, the aim is the same – take turns moving your units around the map to battle enemy units. You must carefully plan out your turns and decide what each character should do. Will you go on the offensive and try to take enemies down quickly or will you stick to the defensive and have opponents come to you? The maps are all grid-based, so you can clearly tell how far each character can move and how close opposing units are. Special bonuses can also be activated in a couple of ways. Pairing two characters up as one combined unit gives you defensive boosts. Alternatively, you can have characters remain separate but stick close together, and they will fight alongside each other when engaged in battle. A new element in Fates, called Dragon Vein, allows certain characters to activate special powers when standing on a particular insignia on the map. Dragon Vein powers can change the course of the battle in a variety of ways, such as filling rivers to make them impassable, directing lava flow to block your foes, or raising and lowering platforms. All of these mechanics come together to make traversing each map an elaborate game of chess.

Fire Emblem Fates Battle.png — All of your units are arranged on a grid.

When two units are next to each other, they can battle. Skirmishes are typically one-round fights in which one character initiates the attack, then the other counterattacks. If a unit loses all of its HP, he or she dies. In the Fire Emblem series, there is a mechanic known as permadeath in which any character who dies is permanently removed from the rest of the game. There are easier modes that take this feature away, but classic mode retains it, leading to higher stakes and more frustration should a character meet an untimely end. Although permadeath is very stressful, it is definitely to be respected, as it can make players more invested in the characters they love. Losing characters along the way is painful, but it makes victory that much sweeter.

Fire Emblem Fates Battle Scene.jpg — When you engage in battle, the perspective switches to a more dynamic view.

Each battle has multiple factors that determine its final outcome. For one, each unit’s stats are important to consider, as faster characters may be able to hit twice while inaccurate characters may miss. Strength can also depend on a character’s weapons. As in past Fire Emblem games, there is a rock-paper-scissors-like weapon triangle that gives one type of weapon an advantage over another. For example, swords trump axes and axes beat lances, which in turn beat swords. In this installment, magic, bows, and hidden weapons (such as shuriken) also factor into the effectiveness chart. As a result, the expanded triangle becomes a little too confusing. Despite this, it does give more importance to these other weapon types and mixes up the usual strategies. A big change to weapons is a welcome one: you can now use the same weapon over and over again without fear of them breaking. Eliminating this minor inconvenience complements the other new change of weapons: providing different bonuses or detriments depending on rank. For instance, some higher-ranked weapons are stronger but will lower your stats, while lower-ranked weapons actually raise your stats. Since weapons don’t break, you can now carry one of each type of weapon (as opposed to having to carry multiples of the same weapon out of fear that it may break). These alterations to the battle system make the overall gameplay a little easier and are overall welcome additions.

Fire Emblem Fates Weapo Triangle.jpg — There is quite a bit to keep in mind when initiating a fight, like weapon advantage.

Units

As stated in the story section, Fire Emblem lives through its characters, and your army is filled with a variety of fun units. All of them have predetermined classes that affect their stat growth, skills, and equippable weapons. For example, cavaliers are strong attackers who use swords and lances on horseback, while archers are bow-wielding powerhouses who can only attack from a distance. The variety of units allows each one to have a wholly different role on the battlefield. The fun is in learning how to maximize each unit’s potential. Units can be promoted at any point between level 10 and 20 (20 being the max). Promoted units have better stats, better weapon usage, access to new skills, and the ability to gain more levels. Of course, the beauty of Fates is that you are not required to limit units to their starting class. Using a variety of special seals, units can switch over to other classes. They then inherit a new set of abilities while being able to keep old skills from their previous class. Some class-exclusive skills are so useful that you may even consider changing to another class just to learn the skill, then immediately switch back with your new ability in tow. By experimenting with classes, you can have a unique set of battlers that fit your playing style.

One of the most beloved features from Fire Emblem Awakening returns: marriage. Most Fire Emblem games have a system in which two units who stick together, fight alongside the other, and pair up often will be able to participate in support conversations. Certain characters can take support to the next level and actually get married (complete with cheesy and/or ridiculous proposals). If that weren’t enough, they can also have kids, whom you can recruit for your army. When the children first appear, they are already of age, having grown up in a magical realm of accelerated time. Awakening has this same feature and weaves it in well into its story, whereas Fates’ explanation is contrived and leads to more questions than answers. Regardless, the support system as a whole is an excellent way to keep players invested in the otherwise one-dimensional characters. Each support conversation brings characterization, each marriage fosters a sense of togetherness, and each child represents a new unit customized accordingly to his or her parents. It’s so engaging that it’s almost hard to imagine a future Fire Emblem installment without it.

Fire Emblem Fates Support — Support conversations and prospects of marriage bring the characters to life. By the way, it’s not like she likes you or anything…

Many Ways to Play

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Fates is the variant gameplay styles contained within. There are already three different games, but there is also an additional matrix of difficulty that determines enemies’ strengths and how your units’ deaths are handled.

The first notable distinction is whether you play the game on classic mode, which includes the aforementioned permadeath, in which your units die for good when they fall in battle. You can take it down a notch to casual mode, where units are never permanently lost, but instead come back ready for battle the following chapter. While this mode is controversial, it is an excellent way to bring in new fans as Awakening did before it. It is also great for Fire Emblem veterans who just honestly did not like permadeath and would reset anyway if any character unexpectedly died. Some casual mode players may abuse the system and employ a more reckless gameplay strategy since the stakes aren’t as high. However, for those who still play the game trying to keep everyone alive but don’t want to experience the stress and pain of losing a unit by accident, consider casual mode as a way to enjoy Fire Emblem more. There is yet another notch below casual, phoenix mode, in which characters who die immediately revive during the next turn. This is a little too much, but those just in it for the story or novice players may appreciate this mode.

Fire Emblem Fates Action Scene 2 — Try not to let anyone die!

With any of these modes, you can also choose a difficulty setting of normal, hard, or lunatic. Higher difficulties raise enemies’ stats and aggressive power. The best part of this is that you can combine any mode with any difficulty. For instance, you can play casual mode with a lunatic difficulty and classic mode with normal difficulty. Also note that you can always lower difficulties if you get stuck, but you can never raise them.

The last element of this difficulty matrix is the actual three different games themselves. So once more, it is time to choose between Hoshido (Birthright), Nohr (Conquest), or neither (Revelation).

Fire Emblem Fates Choose.jpg — The choice you make affects the entire rest of your gameplay experience.