Fire Emblem Warriors

Fire Emblem Warriors (ファイアーエムブレム無双, Faiā Emuburemu Musō, Fire Emblem Musou) is a hack and slash game for the Nintendo Switch and the New Nintendo 3DS. This collaboration between Intelligent Systems and the Koei Tecmo studios Omega Force and Team Ninja is a crossover between the Fire Emblem series and Koei Tecmo's Warriors franchise.

Release
Fire Emblem Warriors marks the second time a Nintendo IP has received a Koei Tecmo Warriors styled game, the first being Hyrule Warriors. It also marks the third time Nintendo characters have appeared in a Warriors game: the first was Takamaru from The Mysterious Murasame Castle, who appeared as a guest character in the Wii version of Samurai Warriors 3.

Fire Emblem Warriors was briefly showcased during the Nintendo Switch Presentation on January 12, 2017. The trailer briefly teased Chrom from Fire Emblem Awakening. During a Fire Emblem Nintendo Direct, gameplay was shown of Chrom in battle. The trailer concluded with a slated release of Fall 2017 and a version developed specifically for the New Nintendo 3DS was also announced for a Fall 2017 release.

The bulk of the game's roster is comprised of characters from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates, in addition to original characters created for the game. The game launched with a total of twenty-three playable characters, with nine more scheduled to release as downloadable content. There are unique 15 movesets among the characters.

Plot
During a routine sparring match between the royal twins of Aytolis, Rowan and Lianna, and their friend Prince Darios of Gristonne, mysterious portals open in the sky, from which monsters appear and attack. The three make their escape from Aytolis Castle, but in the process are separated from Queen Yelena, who gives them the Shield of Flames before being captured. The group learns that Darios's father Oskar is seeking to revive the evil dragon Velezark, and they must power up the Shield of Flames with Gleamstones created from the power of heroes from other worlds in order to stop his evil scheme.

Rowan and Lianna travel across Aytolis, rallying support from heroes from the nations of Ylisse, Hoshido, Nohr, and Altea. However, during an attack on a Gristonne fortress, Velezark successfully possesses Darios and steals the Shield of Flames. Rowan and Lianna pursue him to back to Aytolis Castle, where they discover Yelena has been captured and Oskar intends to sacrifice her to fully revive Velezark. Rowan and Lianna successfully rescue Yelena, and so Darios sacrifices Oskar to complete the ritual. Now freed from the possession, Darios returns the Shield of Flames to the group before falling to his death.

Rowan and Lianna battle Velezark's forces and finally slay him. With their mission complete, the other heroes return to their home worlds and Yelena crowns the twins as rulers of Aytolis.

Combat
As a part of Koei Tecmo's larger Warriors franchise, Fire Emblem Warriors is a hack-and-slash action game in which the player fights in battlefields populated with hundreds of enemies. The player can execute combos to cut through enemies while working toward completing a series of stage objectives. Attacking enemies builds a special gauge that can unleash powerful Warrior Specials that can clear a large group of enemies at once.

Battles are played out over various maps in which two or more armies clash. Players are given Missions during each mission, requiring the capturing of forts to gain territory and defeating Captains, stronger and high priority targets. Players are also given Sub Missions, tasking the player with tasks like rescuing a stray NPC, stopping a messenger from requesting back up, or stop enemies from boosting enemy morale. These do not need to be completed, but will help swing the tide of battle in the player's favor if they are completed. Players are allowed on most maps to bring in multiple characters into battle, allowing them to freely switch between characters during battle to address certain tasks.

Pairing
The game also features a pair-up mechanic inspired by the pairing mechanic seen in Awakening and Fates. When approaching another playable character on the battlefield, the player has the option to pair up with that character. This action will remove the second playable character from the battlefield, but will boost the stats of the character under the player's control. When paired-up, characters can perform a dual special attack. The player can also ask the other unit to attack the enemies, or this unit can automatically shield the player from taking a hit, with a gauge system that seems similar to the paired-up defense mechanic featured in Fates. The player may also swap back and forth between control of each unit in the pair. Additionally, the player may pair a playable unit with an allied unit that is not controllable. This allied NPC unit becomes a Vanguard and will aid the defense of the playable unit, but cannot be controlled directly.

Weapon Mechanics
The weapon triangle is featured in Fire Emblem Warriors. Characters who fight enemies whom they have the advantage expose an armor gauge during combos and deal additional damage. Fighting against an enemy which the weapon has a weakness too deals reduced damage and cannot expose weaknesses. Bows retain their ability to deal bonus damage to Flying units. Weapons can be imbued with bonus effects, including bonus damage against special units.

Special Units
The game features playable Horseback Units, Flying Units, and Dragon Units, all of which retain similar weaknesses in the franchise. Horseback Units have the special ability to deal damage as they are dashing and Flying units can fly over gaps on the map that no other unit can traverse. Armor units are also featured, but there are no playable versions.

Awakening
After filling the Awakening Gauge, the player character can trigger the Awakening state. In this state, the character receives a temporary parameter boost and weapon triangle weaknesses are nullified. When the gauge depletes, the Awakening state will end, and the character will finish up with a special attack. It is not possible to switch control to another character while Awakening is active. The character Tiki has unique gameplay revolving around the Awakening state, as she will turn into a dragon and her move set will completely change for the duration.

Leveling Up
When the player character levels up, the action pauses to display a Fire Emblem-style Level Up screen. This can be toggled off in the menu if players don't wish the action to be interrupted. When a character levels up, they receive a boost to their HP and other statistics, though these growths are fixed. A character does not have to be under the player's direct control to earn experience or level up.

At the end of battle, the character declared MVP will receive an extra experience point boost.

The stat system from Fire Emblem is retained as well but tweaked and adapted to fit Warriors gameplay. For example, Luck now governs all chance-based skills such as Sol and Luna, while Speed now affects how long a character can have Awakening active.

Technique and Skill Progression
New attacks, skills, and defensive parameters for characters can be unlocked on each character's skill tree. Unlocking a node on the skill tree requires specific materials that can be farmed in battle. To access a character's full skill tree, they must be promoted to a new class. Characters that are at least Level 15 of their base class can promote through the use of a Master Seal.

Weapons and Forging
A weapon forging system appears in Fire Emblem Warriors. If a weapon has an empty skill slot, the player can upgrade it by transferring an attribute from another weapon to it in exchange for the destruction of the weapon from which the attribute is transferred. Attributes can also be removed from weapons to make space for other attributes. However, the number of slots on a give weapon varies, and some weapons have no slots at all. Attributes that allow for extra damage against specific enemy types (ex: Dracoslayer) can be transferred between weapons, but weapons that receive these attributes also suffer a penalty to their normal attack strength.

Unique weapons such as the Falchion and Yato can be upgraded, but they cannot be used as fodder for forging. Such weapons are also bound to specific characters and cannot be used by anyone else.

Supports
Supports play a role in Warriors by having characters in the roster forge bonds during battles. Gaining support ranks reward the player with materials for the specific supporting characters with C rank gifting that character's Silver Material, B giving their Gold Material, and A giving a Character Essence. Character Essence allows characters to learn skills that are tied to specific characters. For example, Chrom's unique skill is Luna while Tiki is Armored Blow. Any character who forges an A Support with either of these two characters are allowed to learn their skills. Characters can forge supports with all other characters in game, allowing the player to gather all skills and create unique skill builds for each character. While each support level does not have a conversation to tie in, characters may have a special support dialogue with specific characters once they reach an A Support. These are noted as A+ Supports in the Support Level menu, but do not have any other benefits or advantages when compared to a normal A Support.

Permadeath
The permadeath mechanic is represented in the game's Classic Mode. Characters lost during the course of the story do not die, but as with story-important characters in traditional Fire Emblem titles, they sustain injuries that prevent them from rejoining the battle. It is possible to revive a character within the camp's temple. There also exists a Casual Mode that turns permadeath off. If a player starts Story Mode in Classic, it is possible to switch to Casual, and any lost units will be returned to the active roster. It is not possible to switch from Casual Mode to Classic.

Losing a character in Story Mode prevents the player from using that character in other modes.

amiibo
The game, like Hyrule Warriors, has compatibility with amiibo. By scanning an amiibo, the player will receive a random weapon or amount of gold, and up to five amiibo can be scanned each day. Two new amiibo released in conjunction with the game based on Chrom and the younger version of Tiki unlock unique weapons. Using the Chrom and Tiki amiibos for the first time after the characters are unlocked in game will grant the player Chrom's Training Sword and Tiki's Tear.

Story
An original narrative in which the prince and princess of Aytolis search for heroes from other worlds in order to save their kingdom. The story progresses with each battle completed. After a chapter is completed, it can be replayed in Free Mode, allowing the player to use whichever characters they prefer without restriction. Completion of Story Mode unlocks the Lunatic difficulty setting.

History
A mode that reviews battles from across the history of the series. The game mode is divided into maps based on select battles from the games represented in Fire Emblem Warriors. Additional maps are unlocked by collecting illustration pieces from Anna, who will set up shop when specific conditions are met during battle. Enemy units on these maps represent different sorts of challenges, such as rescuing an ally, defeating a particular enemy, or simply defeating as many enemies as possible within a time limit. The player's performance is ranked upon completion, with some challenges offering extra bonuses for completion with an S rank.

As the player advances through a History map, story sequences will play out loosely based on the scenario that the map originated from. Characters that were part of these stories that are not in Fire Emblem Warriors have their roles filled by other figures. For example, if the player locates the Lightsphere and Starsphere on the map "The Dark Pontifex," it is Leo that will craft the Starlight spell instead of Gotoh. Once the map's scenario has been cleared, space-time distortions will appear, offering more challenges and different twists to the story.

Characters

 * See main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem Warriors

The game mostly features the casts from Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates, who are primarily important to the game's main storyline.

Chapters

 * See main article: List of chapters in Fire Emblem Warriors

Voice cast

 * See main article: List of Voice Actors in Fire Emblem Warriors

Music

 * See main article: List of Music in Fire Emblem Warriors

Classes

 * See main article: List of Classes in Fire Emblem Warriors

Weapons

 * See main article: List of weapons in Fire Emblem Warriors

Stages
Though none of the stages are taken directly from Fire Emblem titles, the influences are recognizable:
 * From Warriors
 * Aytolis Castle
 * Aytolis City
 * The Interspace


 * From Awakening
 * Kingswood
 * Dragon Valley
 * Desert Arena – inspired by Regna Ferox, including Arena Ferox


 * From Fates
 * Desolate Gorge
 * Castle Sol – inspired by Castle Shirasagi, Hoshido
 * Ebony Volcano
 * Dusk Castle – inspired by Castle Krakenburg, Windmire, Nohr
 * Great Plain – inspired by the Plains of Hoshido


 * From Shadow Dragon
 * Fortified Citadel
 * The World Tree

Downloadable Content
Following the release of Fire Emblem Warriors, three DLC Packs will release under a season pass. They include the Shadow Dragon Pack, the Awakening Pack, and the Fates Pack. They are a series of paid expansions that includes numerous additions. Each pack will contain three new characters from the pack's namesake core game, three additional History Maps, additional weapons and costumes, and new support conversations. Purchasing the Season pass for $19.99 USD ($25.79 CA) rewards the player with a Bride costume for Lucina. Packs can be bought separately for $8.99 US ($11.59 CA) each. Koei Tecmo producer Yosuke Hayashi stated at TGS 2017 that future DLC beyond these packs are a possibility and will depend upon fan feedback.

Outside of the season pass content, western territories also received the Japanese voice audio for the game as a free downloadable extra at the game's launch. Additional content, including a new History map, a new armor breaking weapon attribute, a new blessing type, and new costumes for Rowan and Lianna will be released on November 16th, 2017. On November 16th, Japan will also receive a DLC English language voice pack.

Fates
Released on December 21st, 2017.
 * New Playable Characters: Azura, Niles, and Oboro
 * New Costumes: Maid Camilla, Butler Takumi, Veiled Songstress Azura, Nohr Noble Male Corrin, and Hoshido Noble Female Corrin
 * New Weapons: Blessed Lance, Oboro's Spear, Niles's Bow
 * New Items: Bond Necklace
 * New History Maps: Grief, Land of Gods, and Cold Reception

Shadow Dragon
Released on February 14th, 2018
 * New Playable Characters: Minerva, Linde, and Navarre
 * New Costumes: Bride Caeda, Groom Marth, Bridesmaid Tiki, and Swordmaster Lyn
 * New Weapons: Wing Spear, Divine Stone, Anna's Bow,Wo Dao. Aura, and Hauteclere
 * New Maps: A Brush in the Teeth, Princess Minerva, and Knorda Market

Awakening
Estimated release in March 2018. Contains Owain, Tharja and Olivia, three new costumes, 7 new Weapons, 10 new Broken-Armor Models and three new History Maps.

Trivia

 * Koei Tecmo began development of Fire Emblem Warriors without knowledge of Fire Emblem Heroes, which was in development at the same time. When they presented their original concepts for the siblings Rowan and Lianna to Nintendo, they learned that the designs were coincidentally very similar to the sibling protagonists of Heroes, Alfonse and Sharena. As a result, both Rowan and Lianna had their designs adjusted to differentiate them.
 * Similarly, there is a History Mode map in the game based on Fire Emblem Gaiden rather than its remake due to the fact that the development team was not initially aware that Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was in development. However, Celica was planned for inclusion in the game before the development team learned of the existence of Echoes.
 * Fire Emblem Warriors is the first Fire Emblem or related game, including Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE and TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, to have neither lance using cavalry or playable Armored Knights.
 * Despite all enemy Cavaliers and Paladins using swords due to reusing Xander's moveset, their map sprites, taken from Awakening, still depict them brandishing Lances.
 * Originally during the development of Fire Emblem Warriors, Fire Emblem Fates character Azura was meant to play a role in base game's main storyline. However with the abundance of Fates characters due to the inclusion of all of Corrin's siblings, she was removed from the final product with the intention of adding her as DLC at a later date. She was subsequently included as one of the playable characters in the Fates-themed DLC pack.
 * Fire Emblem Warriors is the first Fire Emblem spin-off and crossover to have full English voice acting, as Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE only had Japanese voice acting with English subtitles.
 * During livestreamed demonstrations of the game at E3 2017, a game mode dubbed "Coliseum Mode" was shown off. In it, the player took on a series of hero characters in addition to standard soldiers, but no such Coliseum Mode was included in the game at release. History Mode does, however, include challenges similar in nature to what this mode was supposed to provide. Whether Coliseum Mode was removed or simply misrepresented as a mode separate from the then-unannounced History Mode is unclear.