Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (ファイアーエムブレム Echoes もうひとりの英雄王 Faiā Emuburemu Echoes Mō Hitori no Eiyū'ō, lit. Fire Emblem Echoes: Another Hero King in Japan) is a Japanese tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is the fifteenth game in the Fire Emblem series and a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden. It was released in Japan on April 20, 2017 and internationally on May 19, 2017. This game was a first time release in Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese.
Development
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was first announced during a worldwide Fire Emblem Nintendo Direct on January 18, 2017 as a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden. Echoes marks the third remake of a previous Fire Emblem installment, the first two being Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. The Gaiden remake received a full visual remake with full 3D models and new animated cutscenes produced by the animation Studio Khara, and will be the first core series Fire Emblem title to feature full dialogue voice-acting. The updated character designs were created by the Japanese illustrator Hidari, previously known for his work on the Toukiden and Atelier series, as well as a variety of light novels and other media.
Setting
- See also: Archanea Series
Echoes is a retelling of Fire Emblem Gaiden, which takes place in the continent of Valentia. Within the Fire Emblem universe, it takes place in the same world as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. However, it takes place within the two years separating those titles. With the release of Fire Emblem Awakening, Valentia is further connected to other games, as the continent of Valm is the future version of Valentia.
Plot
- See also: Fire Emblem Gaiden
Fire Emblem Echoes follows the same basic plot as Fire Emblem Gaiden, with the protagonists Alm and Celica fighting in a war that has consumed the nations of Rigel and Zofia on the continent of Valentia. Echoes introduces new characters to the story that did not exist in Gaiden such as a new friend of Alm, Faye, and a new villain in Berkut (which replace Seazas in Act 4), as well as a new prologue that expands on Alm and Celica's childhood relationship. Additionally, a sixth chapter is added after the end of the original Gaiden story, expanding on the lore of Valentia and connecting the game to Awakening.
Changes compared to Fire Emblem Gaiden
- Several characters are added to the 3DS version. Those characters are:
- When Celica reaches Duma Tower's top in the Echoes version of Act 4, Jedah banishes her companions to the catacombs leaving her alone to watch helplessly as Alm suffers.
- In Echoes' version of Act 4, Slayde is fought at the Last Bastion.
- In the Gaiden version of Act 5, when Alm reaches the cell where Celica is being held, she asks Alm to help her out and save her and her party. In the Echoes version, Celica is alone, and tries to discourage Alm from killing Duma, fearing that it would possibly lead to Rigel's people to face starvation.
- In Echoes, Jedah actually sacrifices Celica to Duma by having the latter steal her soul, making her a mindless puppet for Duma.
- Alm finds the Valentian Falchion in a treasure chest in the treasure vault in the Famicom version. In Echoes, he finds it in Mila's petrified head.
- In Echoes, Alm is forced to kill Celica with the Falchion, due to her becoming a mindless minion of Duma. She is then subsequently revived by Mila using the last of her powers.
Gameplay
Fire Emblem Echoes retains and updates many mechanics that originated in Fire Emblem Gaiden. Among these include a navigable world map, as well as freely explorable towns and dungeons. Such exploration takes place from a third-person behind-the-back perspective, and when an enemy is encountered during exploration, the game transitions to a traditional Fire Emblem tactical battle. If the player can preemptively strike the enemy icon in the dungeon to start the battle, the enemy units will begin the fight with a slight reduction to their HP and their starting positiones will be closer to the enemy. Echoes also retains the unique battle system used in Gaiden, making map battles much different from other Fire Emblem titles.
Changes compared to Fire Emblem Gaiden
- Echoes is compatible with amiibo figures.
- The Alm and Celica amiibo unlock special dungeons respectively called Duma's Ordeal and Mila's Ordeal. These amiibo also allow players to save the current versions of their Alm and Celica units, which can be summoned later as illusory units.
- The Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U line of Fire Emblem amiibo will summon illusory copies of those characters.
- All other currently available amiibo will summon an additional monster in battle.
- Casual Mode has been added as a feature for Echoes.
- A new prologue is included which shows the past of Alm and Celica.
- A new, limited-use item called Mila's Turnwheel allows the player to rewind the events of a battle, allowing the player to correct mistakes.
- Dungeons are now explorable in a 3D environment.
- Towns and villages are now explorable in the manner of a visual novel.
- The fatigue system from Thracia 776 is reintroduced, but penalties are stat reductions instead of temporary incapacity.
- Support conversations have been added to Echoes and take place on the battlefield like in the GBA Fire Emblem titles.
- The Forge mechanic has been added along with Silver and Gold Marks in order to forge weapons.
- Weapons have innate skills that can be learned. However, all skills can only be used on the weapon it is learned from. Skills take the form of persistent passive abilities or direct ability commands.
- In Act 5, Celica's party does not lose health while Alm explores the Duma Temple catacombs, unlike the Famicom version.
- A bonus sixth chapter has been added, taking place after the endgame of Gaiden.
- Special DLC maps, items, and features are added to the game, consisting of:
- 5 Goddess's Gift items
- Two sets of Maps that give endless Items, Silver Marks, and Experience
- Access to overclasses.
- 4 Prelude stories about the Deliverance
- Two maps in collaboration with Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) along with the ability to recruit Emma, Shade, Yuzu, and Randal
Characters
- See main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Chapters
- See main article: List of chapters in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Weapons
- See main article: List of weapons in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Items
- See main article: List of items in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Collector's Editions
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was released alongside two special editions with bonus items in Japan: the Limited Edition, and Valentia Complete, which will cost 7,538 and 11,858 yen, including tax, respectively. The Japanese My Nintendo Store offered the full set of bonus items from the Valentia Complete edition without a game copy for 7,538 yen, including tax. The North American Limited Edition costed $60. No price has been announced for the European Limited Edition.
Japan Limited Edition
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- A Fire Emblem 0 limited card of Alm with a drawn illustration
- Download serial to get an extra DLC set that will be available as soon as it is published
- Sound Selection Echoes - A CD that contains both music from Gaiden in its original Famicom format and the arranged versions in Echoes
Japan Valentia Complete
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- A Fire Emblem 0 limited card of Alm with a drawn illustration
- A Fire Emblem 0 limited card of Celica with a drawn illustration and hologram
- Download serial to get an extra DLC set that will be available as soon as it is published
- Sound Selection Echoes
- Valentia Artbook
- Fire Emblem HD Movie Collection Blu-Ray - A collection of HD movies used in the games from Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Fates and Echoes (90 minutes in length).
North America and Australia Limited Edition
North America Limited Edition
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Sound Selection Echoes
- Valentia Artbook
- Overworld sprite pin set of Alm, Celica, and Marth
Europe Limited Edition
Europe Limited Edition
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Sound Selection Echoes
- Valentia Artbook
- Overworld sprite pin set of Alm, Celica, and Marth
- Alm and Celica amiibo
Voice Cast
See: List of Voice Actors in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Trivia
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia has the shortest period of time between the release dates of the Japanese version and the international versions, with only a 29 day difference in time.
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the first main series Fire Emblem game to feature full voice-acting for in-game dialogue, and the second in the entire franchise, preceded by the crossover title Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, but is also the first to have full English voice acting in the Western release, as TMS#FE was Japanese audio and sub-only.
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