Tag: Fire Emblem Echoes

Are The Amiibo Worth Hunting For In ‘Fire Emblem Echoes’?

by Josh Jackson

All the amiibo hunters out there know the feeling running down their spine when they hear that new Fire Emblem amiibo are coming. As some of the rarest figures on the market, it’s usually a mad dash to track down Nintendo’s premiere swordfighters, as the characters have very few printings despite their series becoming one of Nintendo’s most profitable franchises. Once again, a new game asks you to track them down to use them in your game thanks to the release of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, but are they worth tracking down for it?

Early into the game, unlocking Mila’s Turnwheel gives you access to the amiibo menu, which asks you to tap the warriors from a distant time to join your battles as Illusory Heroes. Using the Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucina, Robin and Corrin amiibo, (when the latter is released,) gives Alm or Celica the added ability to summon them to the field for one turn at the cost of 10 HP. From there, the CPU takes control of your summoned warrior for one turn, allowing them to deal one powerful blow before returning to the ether.

If you ask me, (and if you aren’t why are you reading this?), the cost isn’t worth the reward. 10 HP can be what leads to a sudden game over, and considering that your main characters are the only ones that can use this ability, their deaths mean an instant game over regardless of the difficulty you’re playing on. Add to the fact that the heroes would sometimes waste their one turn by making some completely braindead moves, and you’re better off just powering through as Alm or Celica, since they’re likely to be two of your best units at any given time anyway.

But while the older amiibo aren’t very impressive, the actual Alm and Celica amiibo are much more exciting to use. Tapping them unlocks a special dungeon containing equipment that can make the early game much easier to manage. Once your main characters are powered up, you can also save their stats to make them Illusory Heroes for your game, or a friend’s game if they need an extra boost. But most importantly, these saved stats will carry over to new games, so if you want to speed run a second playthrough, saving their stats onto the amiibo and uploading them at the start of the game will help you plow through armies with your unstoppable power couple.

Aside from the game play functionality though, these amiibo are some of the best looking ones yet. Compare them to the laughably awkward looking Marth from the amiibo launch day, (also known as amiibogeddon,) and it’s clear that Nintendo upped the quality control quite a bit in the last two years. Check out the comparison for yourself.

Alm and Celica look like they’re silently judging Marth.

All in all, the old amiibo aren’t worth tracking down just to use in this game. However, the Alm and Celica figures are great additions both to the game itself and to your amiibo collection as some of the best looking ones to date. Word is they aren’t nearly as hard to find as previous Fire Emblem figures have been, so I say jump on them before they disappear.

Want to know more about the latest Fire Emblem title? Check out our full review here, and find out about all the goodies the limited edition includes over here. Let us know in the comments if you’re planning on adding this pair to your collection!

Unboxing The ‘Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia’ Limited Edition

by Josh Jackson

Fire Emblem Echoes has arrived for the 3DS! So as expected, Nintendo’s latest turn based strategy epic launched with a limited edition that left fans of the game mashing their refresh buttons for a chance to get their hands on the special release. Packaged with a soundtrack, a hardcover artbook and three pixel pins featuring Alm, Celica, and series poster boy Marth, we were able to snag one of the boxes to share with all you wonderful people. So if you were unable to get one yourself, or just wanted to see what the big deal was, take a look at our unboxing gallery below and check out all the goodies.

The unboxing begins.

The art book is loaded with detailed notes and concept art for many of the game’s cast.

The design of the CD has to be the nicest looking part of the package.

To think Celica could look any cuter.

 

The pin backings hid some cool erm… emblems.

While the CD may look gorgeous and I’m always a sucker for pins, the art book goes above and beyond the meager offerings I’ve come to expect from limited editions I’ve bought in the past, making it the highlight of the package for me. Its solid cover highlights its contents, which are filled with a decent amount of insight to accompany the evolution of the character designs. For an extra $20, it’s hard to walk away as anything but satisfied.

Check out our full review of Echoes here. Are you on the fence about picking up the amiibo for the game? Find out if they’re worth it before you go on the hunt. Let us know what your favorite items in the limited edition were in the comments!

Why ‘Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia’ Eclipses Its Predecessors

by Josh Jackson

Fire Emblem Gaiden was seen as the black sheep of the Fire Emblem series. Released on the NES exclusively in Japan, Gaiden followed the examples of other early Nintendo sequels like Zelda II, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Metroid II: Return of Samus by being so drastically different from its predecessor that it became generally shunned by those who played it. By adding towns, extra battles within dungeons, two protagonists with two different armies, and the ability to level grind rather than needing to strategically fight story battles evenly amongst your troops, many felt like Gaiden lost its edge with these new inclusions. But in a post Awakening world where making the series more accessible has led the once fledgling franchise to become one of Nintendo’s most profitable series’ someone at Intelligent Systems thought it was a good idea to bring Gaiden back in the form of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, a full remake for the 3DS. While it does lose some of the charm that made Awakening and Fates international hits, the once controversial changes add so much to the game that I’m comfortable in saying that Alm and Celica’s adventure overtakes its predecessors to become the best Fire Emblem game on Nintendo’s handheld.

Celica, my heart.

Rather than focus on one protagonist, Echoes splits the story amongst its two leads, Alm and Celica. These childhood friends become separated by mysterious circumstances, growing up in separate parts of the land as Alm continues his training as a swordsman and Celica grows to become a powerful priestess. However, fate calls for them to be reunited when an evil empire attempts to take over Valentia, forcing Alm to take up arms and defend the kingdom as Celica investigates the apparent disappearance of the goddess Mila. But as their paths intersect, the pair may not stay on the same side of the conflict.

From the opening moments teasing a shocking death as soon as you hit the start button, Echoes sucked me in immediately with its connection between its two main characters to the point of making me tear up within the first ten seconds. Staying true to its original format, the game removed the dating simulation aspects found in the other 3DS entries and replaced them with defined relationships between the cast. This might be disappointing for those who enjoyed putting their own relationships together, but the result is a much more focused set of interactions between most of the characters. Fighting alongside certain teammates will give you brief interactions between them, giving you a bit more insight into what their motivations are. Most character exposition however, is found when exploring towns, which acts as a type of investigation mode found in games like Phoenix Wright. Aside from discovering side missions from the townsfolk or usable items to help you on your journey, speaking to party members gives them deeper backstories than the somewhat trope ridden characters in Fates or Awakening. Unfortunately, this also means that the interactions are much fewer, since only characters relevant to each other’s stories can speak with each other, rather than everyone having the potential to explore their relationship. Even then, the dialogue on the battlefield can often be short to the point of being useless. It’s not perfect, but in the end, the result is tighter, more meaningful storytelling.

Alm charges into battle as the game shows off its new art style.

Despite these changes, the core game play is generally the same, but with some bold tweeks that change how battles need to be approached. The game still uses a grid based turn based strategy format, where certain types of units have strengths and weaknesses to others in a type of  feudal rock-paper-scissors. Except the weapons triangle has been done away with, performing like a more traditional RPG where stats are king. Weapons and spell books don’t break anymore, and instead have an unlimited amount of uses. Sticking with the same weapon type over time will unlock more skills, allowing you to use Arts on command at the cost of some HP. Most games in the series make these special abilities random as you battle, but allowing us to use them at will was balanced out by making them much weaker than what we’ve come to expect from our armies’ strongest attacks. I found them to be less beneficial than just using regular attacks in most cases, essentially rendering them useless.

The biggest change in combat however, has to be how mages are handled. Rather than losing their spells over time, casting spells now costs HP, making an already fragile character type even more susceptible to being killed on the battlefield after a bad move. Thankfully, they come off as much more powerful than normal in most cases, which makes using them a high risk, high reward type of unit. But if this isn’t your style, Alm’s side of the army allows you to customize your first few units any way you want. You’ll just want to be careful and avoid creating weaknesses in your composition, since these choices will follow you through the rest of the game.

Once you have your armies in order, you’ll have numerous opportunities to put them to the test. Lengthy story battles, optional battles on the map, and full 3D dungeons for you to explore each give you opportunities to raise the strength of your soldiers. Dungeons in particular add a few unique mechanics, allowing you to attack enemies on the field in real time, destroy objects for hidden silver, (which never gets old), and a fatigue system where fighting multiple battles without leaving leads to your characters to slowly dip in strength. These areas were the highlight of Echoes’, giving us something new to do in between the constant battles. Hidden items, well springs that let you raise particular stats, and side quests that lead to some powerful gear make you want to explore every inch of these dungeons, giving you the opportunity to get stronger while you’re at it.

Celica summoning her flame to explore is one of my favorite animations.

Which is why story battles can have severe spikes in difficulty, which is one of the game’s most glaring faults. I’ve said it before in other games, but there’s little more frustrating than being able to steamroll one army, then get completely destroyed by the next one. Echoes can be especially bad at this, where at times, a single boss unit can wipe out your whole team right after they mopped the floor with his cronies. Using the ability to level grind as a type of crutch makes moments like these a chore to get through, especially when you’re anxious to see the next page in the story turn as opposed to fighting pointless battles for a few hours before you can advance. Not to mention that the dreaded random stat boosts return with a vengeance, meaning your characters can be rewarded for that hard work with next to no benefit. In a series that already has issues with having little to do outside of constant battles, forcing the need to grind only makes the problem all the more apparent.

Luckily, Mila’s Turnwheel, a new item that allows you to rewind time when you screw up a turn, can be a literal godsend during these overwhelming moments. What will surely be the new big controversy among the portion of the fanbase who thought that adding a casual mode that eliminated the game’s trademark permanent death mechanic hurt the franchise, the Turnwheel allows you to rewind time so you can redo multiple turns. Giving you step by step reminders of what happened during each move, the game makes it really easy to find where your error was and make a different move, whether or not it was one turn ago, or ten turns ago. You can only use it a limited number of times per battle, keeping it from being completely overpowered, but if you ask me, this can only be an improvement for the series going forward. Making it all the way to the end of a battle only to miss an attack or have the opponent hit a critical at the last second, eliminating an hour plus of progress, was one of the most frustrating parts of playing Fire Emblem, so allowing us to rewind single turns instead of having to start all over is a huge plus. Besides, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it. It’s a win-win!

Mila’s Turnwheel has saved me more than I care to admit.

Controversies aside, Echoes‘ biggest flaw is its map design, which often consists of big, open fields during the first half of the game. As a problem that Awakening had while Fates was much more consistent when it came to decent maps, it’s disappointing to see such flat areas that end up coming down to which army makes the first stupid mistake. This becomes less of a problem late game, with some incredibly taxing layouts that can take an hour plus to complete. Yet, once you’re able to start taking down fortified castles full of snipers, armored knights and summoners, then work your way up to the castle’s boss without any losses on your side, it’s an amazingly rewarding experience. It just takes about 10-15 of the game’s 40 hours to get to that point.

You’ll have to sift through some plain maps before getting to more interesting ones like these.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia still comes off as an experimental mixed bag of ideas, many of which remain bold choices in the face of popular entries like Awakening. Not everyone will like the removal of marriages, children, the weapons triangle or the more detailed interactions among the entire cast. But what we gain in the process is a more focused story, better developed characters in most cases, a variety of side quests and extra areas that aren’t usually found in the series, and full 3D dungeons that break up the monotony of constant fighting. It isn’t without its flaws, namely its insistence on level grinding and some poor map design in the early game, but overall, Echoes brings enough common sense ideas to the table that make it the best entry on the 3DS. If the upcoming Switch entry can keep a Mila’s Turnwheel-esque mechanic to let us redo turns, bring back more detailed dungeons to fight our way thorough, and figure out a way to have the openness of the relationship system without constraining the story, and Fire Emblem fans will have plenty to look forward to in 2018. Until then though, Shadows of Valentia is an engaging substitute. It’s safe to say that Alm and Celica’s adventure has risen out of its black sheep status to stand tall as one of the series’ finest.

tl;dr

+ A much more focused, engaging story.

+ The inclusion of dungeons provides a much needed break from combat, with secret items and areas to discover.

+ Mila’s Turnwheel keeps unlucky moves from being a demoralizing mess.

+ Victory is as rewarding as always.

– The early game is full of flat, boring maps.

– Side character interaction has been severely dumbed down.

– Difficulty spikes seemingly come out of nowhere.

– The changed combat systems are more trouble than they’re worth.

Final Score: 4/5

Alm And Celica Amiibo Are Launching Side By Side With ‘Fire Emblem Echoes’

by Josh Jackson

For fans of Fire Emblem Gaiden, they’ll have more to look forward than just Fire Emblem Echoes. Launching alongside the game on May 19th, Alm and Celica are getting their own amiibo set!

Launching as a double pack like the Callie and Marie amiibo from last year, these two figures look absolutely gorgeous. Which probably means that they’ll look like McDonalds toys when they hit the shelves. Regardless, we’re more than happy with seeing more Fire Emblem characters get the toy treatment. I’m just hoping Nintendo releases more than a dozen this time around.

Is it too early to make Celica waifu of 2017?

How they will function in Echoes or any other games is currently a mystery, but I’ll be perfectly happy just keeping them on my shelf. Is anyone else planning on grabbing this pair? Let us know in the comments, and keep up with the rest of our Fire Emblem news, including more info on Warriors, Heroes and the upcoming Switch game!

‘Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia’ Arrives On The Battlefield This May!

by Josh Jackson

During Nintendo’s Fire Emblem dedicated Direct, a remake of the cult hit, Fire Emblem Gaiden was announced for the 3DS in the form of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. Notable as a game that marked a short lived shift in the way the game played, Gaiden introduced the ability to explore dungeons and interact with towns. These features were largely ignored going forward, but Echoes is looking to modernize them for 2017 based off of the footage we’ve seen.

Similar to the most recent release, Fire Emblem Fates, Echoes puts players at the center of a conflict between two warring kingdoms. As Alm and Celica, adopted siblings who find themselves caught within the war, they’ll have to battle both sides if they want to bring peace back to the land. Naturally, what better way to deliver on that promise than with constant war.

As a big departure from the rest of the series, Echoes will mirror Gaiden with a modern twist, with full 3D dungeon exploration and the ability to break out in battle at a moment’s notice. Being able to navigate towns and communicate with your party will feel more familiar to more recent fans, but we’re excited to see how all of these changes will carry over when its release rolls around.

Between more news on the mobile game, two new Amiibo that will accompany Echoes, a brand new Switch game and game play footage of Fire Emblem Warriors, it’s a great time to be a Fire Emblem fan. What are you hoping to see in Echoes?

InuJoshua’s 13 Most Anticipated Games Of 2017

by Josh Jackson

It may have taken a few years, but 2017 is looking like the year where the big consoles will finally hit their strides with a strong lineup across the board. From action games to RPGs, sequels to new IPs, and some recent surprises, there won’t be a shortage of quality content for gamers to enjoy throughout the year. Yet, we can’t play it all, which is why I narrowed down the thirteen games I’m most anticipating in 2017, which reflects the variety of content on every platform. Without delay, here we go!

Honorable Mention: Mass Effect Andromeda

It’s odd what difference a few years will make. Not too long ago, I would have considered Bioware to be one of my favorite active developers. But after Mass Effect 2 almost completely gave up on the first game’s RPG elements to become more of a straightforward shooter, the debacle that was Dragon Age 2, and the disappointing Mass Effect 3, I haven’t been all that up on Andromeda. With that said, I’m looking forward to giving this universe another chance, but I’m hoping we can up the RPG side of things while bringing back the interesting characters and alien sex that has become synonymous with the series.

13. Horizon: Zero Dawn

As the first new IP from Guerrilla Games since coming off of their mostly successful Killzone series, Horizon has a lot to prove. Based on everything we’ve seen so far though, it looks like it’s on track to go above and beyond expectations. As if fighting off robotic dinosaurs on horseback with a bow and arrow wasn’t crazy enough, the game is promising a strong narrative to match up with its incredible visuals. The only reason the game isn’t higher is because I wasn’t the biggest fan of the team’s previous games, but with something that looks so well done, Horizon has the potential to change all that.

12. South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Forrowing up on the laugh out loud hilarious Stick of Truth, The Fractured But Whole will take us back into the world of South Park, as the kids switch from their fantasy game to their super hero personas. Being tasked with once again creating your own kid to join in on the hilarity, the sequel is promising to deliver a more refined battle system to match up with what will surely be a hilarious script. Let’s just hope that unlike the first game, that Fractured ends up being free of game breaking glitches, features ways to re-visit past missions, and offers more content than an afternoon’s worth of adventuring.

11. Fire Emblem Warriors

I can’t say that I was ever a particularly big fan of Warriors games, but Hyrule Warriors taught me that the games are way more exciting when you’re playing as your favorite characters from other properties rather than fictional takes on historical figures. Transitioning from the land of Hyrule to the world of Fire Emblem, the franchise has hundreds of characters to choose from when putting together an all star cast, many of which will have unique abilities that fit in perfectly with the one vs. all style of these games. Corrin’s dragon abilities, the expert swordplay of characters like Marth, and flying in on a pegasus are just some of the possibilities we can expect, especially if there’s a small chance that we can have some of our favorite Tokyo Mirage Sessions characters make their return. Can I PLEASE wipe out armies with Tsubasa while she sings Feel?

10. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

From one Fire Emblem game to another, 2017 is looking like a fantastic year for a franchise that was considered dead in the water a few short years ago. While I knew next to nothing about Fire Emblem Gaiden before the announcement of Echoes, I’m thrilled to see how Nintendo is adapting everything that made the cult classic unique. We’ll have dungeon exploration for the first time in the West, a more focused story that won’t rely on a create your own character to drive the narrative as your main lord, and optional battles as you explore the two kingdoms. Two new gorgeous looking amiibo give me even more of a reason to be excited for May 19th, and I’m hoping that this won’t be the next game in the series that I buy and never finish…

9. Persona 5

This one has been a long time coming, with Atlus’ most popular RPG series relying on some fantastic spinoffs and remakes to keep the name out there. But after nine years, Persona 5 will finally find its way into our hands, as the Phantom Thieves take center stage. Since the third game, Persona has featured strong storytelling mixed with some of the finest turn based combat you’ll find, and wrapped it up in a high school / dating simulator where you can put the moves on your party and important NPCs in exchange for new abilities. Expect the same dark themes and haunting imagery to follow along with some of the finest role playing on the market, because after such a long wait, it just has to deliver.

8, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite

Here’s another game that seeingly came out of nowhere towards the end of 2016. Promising more of a focus on the Marvel Cinematic Universe side of things and rumors swirling that the X-Men will be completely absent, we’re almost promised a mostly unique cast of characters. It’s a shame since X-Men: Children of the Atom was the game that really kicked off this series, but if losing Wolverine means we can get characters like Black Widow, Ant-Man, Groot, Star Lord, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Loki to make their debuts, then it will almost make up for it. I’m just hoping that the return of the 2 on 2 format will make the game much harder to break compared to MvC2 and UMvC3, but I’ll never underestimate the fighting game community’s ability to scrub every nook and cranny of the game.

7. CyberDimension Neptune: Four Goddesses Online

There’s two comments I have to make about this entry. One, it’s not actually scheduled to come out this year. Two, if it had a confirmed date, it would be much higher on the list. BUT… The reason why I have the long awaited journey into Vert’s favorite MMORPG near the halfway point of this list is because much like Neptune vs. Sega Hard Girls last year, that game also wasn’t scheduled, but found its way onto the Vita by the end of the year. In other words, I fully expect this out before 2017 is over. CyberDimension will take the girls of the Neptunia series to uncharted territory in more ways than one, making their debut in the simulated MMORPG realm as their first game made with Unreal 4 and placing them in roles that are brand new to each character. Uni as a thief? Neptune as a paladin? Noire as a Dark Knight? Get me that lifelong subscription!

6. Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Last year marked the end of the original Danganronpa story, with the third installment being told through an anime with mixed reception. Starting with a clean slate, V3 places us in a prison with 15 other inmates, with the same goal of getting away with murder in exchange for their freedom. The biggest reason why I named the first games my game of the year in 2014 was because of how creative it got with a genre as rigid as the point and click adventure series, so I’m anxious to see how Killing Harmony will continue this trend with the ability to lie. Expect plenty of heartbreak, despair, and many a waifu candidate this year. Now, excuse me as I go on a media blackout ahead of its Western release to avoid spoilers.

5. Gravity Rush 2

Gravity Rush 2 was a shoe in for a top three slot on this list… Until the Nintendo Switch conference happened and blew my expectations out of the water. Even still, Kat’s big return is easily my most anticipated game on the PlayStation 4 this year, which will deliver a much larger world for the Gravity Queen to manipulate with her incredible powers. We got a taste of her new ways to control gravity during the E3 demo last year, so the idea of taking such a creative premise and essentially tripling the possibilities is something I’m beyond excited for. Throw in Raven as a playable character, an expanded story that will hopefully fill some of the first game’s gaps, and multiple missions to tackle, and we’re left with PlayStation’s most can’t miss game this year.

4. Splatoon 2

We talked a little bit about 2014’s game of the year, so we can’t leave out 2015’s top game! Splatoon left a strong impression on me because of how different it was for an arena shooter. To think Ninendo’s biggest new IP in years would be an online shooter where the goal is to shoot everything BUT your opponent! Yet, here we are, getting ready for our second trip to this world where squids take human forms and pass the time by shooting each other with ink all day. From the small amount of footage we’ve seen so far, an expanded set of new abilities, weapons and gear will help make this sequel worth visiting, all while hopefully packing in a much more fleshed out single player mode. Trust me, I won’t sleep well until I learn why Marie is all alone in that reveal video…

3. Xenoblade Chronicles 2

As far as I’m concerned, the original Xenoblade definitely belongs in the discussion as one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Taking Western exploration and combining it with a more Japanese blend of combat and storytelling, I’ve still yet to play a game with such scope as either the original, or Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U. The surprise reveal left us with plenty of questions, but one that was answered incredibly quick was when it would be released. Promising a 2017 launch, XC2 looks like it’s picking up in a post Monado… And post Shulk world, with a more cartoon-y cast to accompany that beautiful world. At this point, I trust anything that Monolith Soft does, so I’ll continue to let the intrigue build as we trudge through the year. One thing is for sure though, I’m fully expecting to be wowed yet again.

2. Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is one of three games that I go back and forth on regarding what my favorite game of all time is, so whenever a new 3D Mario game is announced, you better believe that I will be paying close attention. Not that I needed much convincing after watching Super Mario Odyssey trailer, because it’s already looking like a joy to play. The big draw when it comes to mainline Mario games is experiencing how the team at Nintendo EAD manages to find a way to make the formula feel fresh despite continuously using a now 21 year old game as its foundation. This time around, it’s looking like a free roam city inspired by the real world and the ability to use your hat as an additional platform seem to be the most noticeable changes, with plenty more to come I’m sure. Odyssey has some legendary shoes to fill, but it might be able to do so with a living hat!

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild at number one should come as no surprise to anyone. Easily the most ambitious title in the franchise since Ocarina of Time, Link’s Switch debut is taking the series in some bold, new directions. Forsaking linear progression for an enormous version of Hyrule to explore, our hero will have to prepare for new threats, different terrains, and the harshness of nature as the world is literally his playground. With statements being made saying that the game is possible to complete very early if you explore thoroughly enough, early word makes it sound like the game will be open ended enough to let each and every one of us carve out our own experiences. We can approach dungeons in different ways. We can prioritize resource gathering. We can give up our trademark sword and shield in favor of a broadsword or an axe. And yet, it still retains that whimsical charm and loose basis in reality that has made the series beloved for decades now. So while we have numerous games both on and off this list that will surely be fantastic, Breath of the Wild is the only one with the potential to change how we view a franchise. And that’s why it places as my most anticipated game of 2017.

Now it’s your turn! What games are you most looking forward to in 2017, which ones should have made the list, and which ones don’t belong? Let us know in the comments!