Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

North American box art
Developer(s)	Intelligent Systems
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
3DS	NA: May 19, 2017 JP: April 20, 2017 EU: May 19, 2017 AU: May 20, 2017
3DS	NA: May 19, 2017 JP: April 20, 2017 EU: May 19, 2017 AU: May 20, 2017
Platform(s)
Classification(s)	This game uses the Nintendo Network
Accessory(ies)	This game is compatible with certain amiibo figures
Genre(s)	Tactical role-playing game
Rating(s)
ESRB	05
PEGI	03
CERO	02
USK	03
ACB	03

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia <sup>(JPJapanese: ファイアーエムブレム Echoes もうひとりの英雄王

Romaji: Faiā Emuburemu Echoes Mō Hitori no Eiyū'ō

Meaning: Fire Emblem Echoes: Another Hero King)</sup> is a tactical RPG game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. This is a full remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second installment in the Fire Emblem series. The games cutscenes were done by Studio Khara.

Plot

Long ago, the sibling gods Mila and Duma fought for control over the continent of Valentia.

Mila's worshipers would form the kingdom of Zofia, a land of plentiful bounty that over time spoiled and corrupted its people through complacency, while Duma's worshipers created the kingdom of Rigel, a desolate land whose people grew in strength but 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.

Gameplay

New Features

The main gameplay is typical of the Fire Emblem series. The free roaming and dungeon exploration returns from the original as well as stat modification for the units.

The game's engine is based off of Awakening and Fates, Echoes is set to egress from the gameplay of both games as official materials highlight many of the elements that made Gaiden a unique title will be returning.

Pre-release screenshots shown that the magic stat was removed, like the original game. Other new features include the world map now featuring the passage of time, represented as a date.

This is similar to the original Gaiden's world map having a turn count. The new Mila's Turnwheel artifact lets players revert their mistakes. Units can also learn abilities from their equipped weapons by using that weapon often.

amiibo

The game also has amiibo compatibility similar to Fire Emblem Fates. The Alm and Celica amiibo figures allow special dungeons to be unlocked.

• The Alm and Celica amiibo unlock special dungeons respectively called Duma's Ordeal and Mila's Ordeal. 

• Players can save the current strength of Alm or Celica in the game to the corresponding amiibo figure.

• The Super Smash Bros. line of Fire Emblem amiibo will summon illusory copies of those characters that will act as a temporary ally for a single turn. This also sacrifices a portion of Alm or Celica’s health.
• All other currently available amiibo will summon an additional monster in battle.

Characters

The entire playable cast of Gaiden returns for the remake, with the addition of two brand new playable characters, Faye, for Alm's party, and Conrad, for Celica's party. This brings the total playable roster to 34 characters in Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Additionally, three new antagonists appear in the remake, Berkut, Rinea, and Fernand. Most bosses also return in the remake, with the exception of Shizas, who is replaced by Berkut in Act 4.

Character	Path
Alm	Alm's Path
Atlas	Celica's Path
Boey	Celica's Path
Catria	Celica's Path
Celica	Celica's Path
Clair	Alm's Path
Clive	Alm's Path
Conrad	Celica's Path
Corrin	amiibo (Male and Female)
Deen	Celica's Path
Delthea	Alm's Path
Emma	Downloadable Content
Est	Celica's Path
Faye	Alm's Path
Fernand	Downloadable Content
Forsyth	Alm's Path
Genny	Celica's Path
Gray	Alm's Path
Ike	amiibo
Jesse	Celica's Path
Kamui	Celica's Path
Kliff	Alm's Path
Leon	Celica's Path
Lucina	amiibo
Lukas	Alm's Path
Luthier	Alm's Path
Mathilda	Alm's Path
Marth	amiibo
Mae	Celica's Path
Mycen	Alm's Path
Nomah	Celica's Path
Palla	Celica's Path
Python	Alm's Path
Randal	Downloadable Content
Robin	amiibo
Roy	amiibo
Saber	Celica's Path
Shade	Downloadable Content
Silque	Alm's Path
Sonya	Celica's Path
Tatiana	Alm's Path
Tobin	Alm's Path
Valbar	Celica's Path
Yuzu	Downloadable Content
Zeke	Alm's Path

Development

Development for Echoes began following the completion of Fire Emblem Fates in 2015. Nintendo series producer Hitoshi Yamagami began considering a new Fire Emblem game for Nintendo Switch, but it was too early to be developing for that system.  

While considering what would come next, several Intelligent Systems staff said they wanted to introduce features that were removed from Fates in a remake of Gaiden. An alternative plan was creating an all-new game, but early planning was already in place for the planned Fire Emblem title for Switch, so it was considered too late to begin a third original 3DS game. 

Rather than the calling the game "New Gaiden", the team chose the English word "Echoes" to give it worldwide appeal, enable its differentiation from the other side story projects within the Fire Emblem series, and as the potential branding for a new series of remakes.

Gallery

Main article: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia/gallery

Reception

Famitsu gave the game a positive review, with all four reviewers praising the mechanical quality, dramatic story and the mechanics carried over from Gaiden. One reviewer said that the efforts spent on Fire Emblem Echoes had elevated Gaiden from being the series' black sheep.

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.

Upon its debut in the United Kingdom, the game was #5 in the all-format gaming charts.In Australia and New Zealand, the game was #2 in the all platform gaming charts, and #1 in 3DS charts. In North America, Shadows of Valentia reached #7 in the all-format gaming charts. According to the NPD Group, the release of Shadows of Valentia prompted a rise in portable sales.

Limited Edition

In Japan, the game comes with cards for Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) and a Soundtrack collection of the game. The Valentia Complete edition includes more cards and a Bluray disc of high-defintion videos.

Trivia

• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia had the shortest wait between Japanese and international release of a mainline Fire Emblem series title yet, with English-speaking fans having to wait a mere 29 days after the Japanese release. The most quickly localized game previously was Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, whose first international version to be released, the PAL localization, was released five months after the Japanese version.

• For April Fools' 2017, a new game called "Fire Emblem: Battle of Revolution" (ファイアーエムブレム 維新大乱) was announced, for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS. It prominently features Valbar, Kamui, and Leon. It takes place in the Edo period of Japan. Some text on the website is in traditional vertical writing, and all character and location names were written in kanji with the katakana names as furigana. DLC featuring Marth in was also announced for "Battle of Revolution". There would also be scrolls as a limited bonus. It was stated to be released on April 20, 2017, the same date as Shadows of Valentia.

• The term "Hero-King" is used to refer to Marth in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem and Fire Emblem Awakening, the significance of this is currently unknown, but appears to be drawing parallels between Alm and Marth.

• "Valentia" is the name of the continent the game is set on. An "echo" is a repeated sound, possibly referring to its remake status.
• This is the first mainline Fire Emblem series title to have full voice acting.

External links

• Official English website
• Official UK website
• Official Japanese website