Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Developer	Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo 3DS
Release Date	JP April 20, 2017 US/PAL May 19/20, 2017
Rating	ESRB: T

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a tactical role-playing game that was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. It is the fifteenth game of the Fire Emblem series and is a heavily expanded remake of the second Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem Gaiden for the NES.

Story

As in the original game's storyline, the game is set in the land of Valentia. There are two kingdoms that were founded by rival gods, Mila and Duma. A pair of childhood friends, Alm and Celica, end up gathering forces to defend Mila's kingdom of Zofia from Duma's kingdom of Rigel.

Gameplay

This game's engine was based on the game engines of the previous 3DS games (Awakening and Fates), and so it mixes elements of those game's gameplay with elements of the original Gaiden. Like Gaiden, this game features an overworld map that can be freely navigated between battles, and this comes with the freedom to visit areas such as villages, dungeons and allied castles. This game also follows the original in that the weapons triangle is not in play, and each unit can only carry one weapon at a time, although said weapon will become stronger as the unit gains more experience. Units also have Fatigue Meters, and they must be purified before becoming completely fatigued through battles.

Among the new features are the addition of Support and base conversations, combat arts and a feature called Mila's Turnwheel that has several functions such as undoing the events of recent turns. Echoes also added various weapons and other items to the game, along with currency that could be used to buy or Forge them. The game also featured amiibo support; scanning amiibos could temporarily summon phantom units of characters from other games or summon other monsters to fight.

Echoes was also known for heavily expanding upon the storyline of Gaiden, as the NES game had been very minimal in story content. This includes new chapters and many new conversations that have been added or expanded. This includes fully voiced dialogue scenes.

Legacy

Sequels

The next game to be released would be an original game, Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Nintendo Switch.