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===Objectives===
 
===Objectives===
Every battle in the franchise has a set objective that the player must achieve in order to move on to the next one. [[Rout the Enemy]], [[Defeat the Boss]], [[Seize]], [[Survive]], [[Protect]], and [[Escape (Objective)]] are the most common objective types.
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Every battle in the franchise has a set objective that the player must achieve in order to move on to the next one. [[Rout the Enemy]], [[Defeat the Boss]], [[Seize]], [[Survive]], [[Protect]], and [[Escape (Objective)|Escape]] are the most common objective types.
   
 
===Permanent Death===
 
===Permanent Death===

Revision as of 11:07, 17 July 2019

Fire emblem noken

Eliwood, Hector and Lyn from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, the first Fire Emblem game to be released internationally.

Fire Emblem (ファイアーエムブレム) is a popular turn-based tactical RPG video game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo.

Franchise History

The Fire Emblem franchise began in 1990 with the release of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which was released for the Family Computer and was exclusive to the Japanese market. While the game did not create the Tactical RPG or Strategy RPG genre, many video game historians note that this game established many of the genre's archetypes. It blended the classic chess formulas of various games from the past with classic RPGs features, namely the ability for characters to gain experience from battle and growing stronger over the course of a story as well as swapping equipment for different needs.

For twelve years, five additional games were released as Japan exclusive titles, up until Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, which was released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. The Fire Emblem franchise gained much exposure in the west when Marth and Roy were included in the 2001 release of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Additionally, due to the western success of Intelligent Systems's tactical strategy game Advance Wars, the Fire Emblem franchise began being localized with the release of seventh Fire Emblem title, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, known at the time simply as Fire Emblem.

The franchise saw mediocre sales that declined over the course of eleven years in Japan. Even after being released in the west, these trends carried over. Prior to 2013, only four of the five games released after Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade were released internationally; Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem remained a Japan exclusive.

Fire Emblem Awakening, the thirteenth title, was developed with the idea in mind that it might be the final game in the franchise. The development team brought back numerous features from throughout the series to create a game that could serve as a proper finale. If the game did not sell enough units in Japan alone, the franchise would be permanently shelved. Thegame was well advertised and had exceptional sales, more than any previous title. The success of the sales in Japan lead to the localization of the game worldwide, leading to similar sales success and newfound interest in the franchise.

Currently fifteen Fire Emblem tiles have been released with seven of them being released only in Japan and eight released worldwide. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the most recent Fire Emblem title, released May 19, 2017. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is currently in development as the sixteenth title of the franchise and is scheduled to be released worldwide on July 26, 2019.

Fire Emblem has been represented in five of the six Super Smash Bros. games with seven Fire Emblem characters appearing as playable characters and three as an Assist Trophies. Super Smash Bros. Melee introduced Marth and Roy. Super Smash Bros. Brawl introduced Ike. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U introduced Robin, Lucina, and Corrin with Chrom making a cameo appearance in Robin's Final Smash. Chrom became a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Lyndis serves as an Assist Trophy in Brawl, For 3DS, For Wii U, and Ultimate. The Black Knight and the Awakening version of Tiki debut as Assist Trophies in Ultimate.

The franchise has also seen a number of spin-offs. Such releases include games developed in collaboration with third parties like Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE and Fire Emblem Warriors, trading card games including Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher), and the mobile phone game Fire Emblem Heroes.

Games

Counting announced games in development, the franchise currently has thirteen original games, three enhanced remakes, and four spin-off titles. Games predating Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade were released only in Japan.

Main series

English titles Japanese titles Platforms &
release dates
Notes
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Logo FE1
ファイアーエムブレム 暗黒竜と光の剣

Famicom: JPApril 20, 1990
Wii: JPOctober 20, 2009
3DS: JPAugust 1, 2012

The first game of the series.
Fire Emblem Gaiden
Logo FE2
ファイアーエムブレム外伝

Famicom: JPMarch 14, 1992
Wii: JPNovember 4, 2009
3DS: JPApril 5, 2013

A side story of the original title, first game to take place on a different continent. Deviates from standard Fire Emblem gameplay mechanisms. Last game available for the Famicom.
Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Logo FE3
ファイアーエムブレム 紋章の謎

SNES: JPJanuary 21, 1994
Wii: JPDecember 26, 2006

Enhanced remake and sequel to Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Logo FE4
ファイアーエムブレム 聖戦の系譜

SNES: JPMay 14, 1996
Wii: JPJanuary 30, 2007

First Fire Emblem to feature the weapon triangle, romance and marriage, and a second generation of characters influenced by the player's actions with the first generation.
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Logo FE5
ファイアーエムブレム トラキア776

SNES: JPSeptember 1, 1999
Wii: JPJuly 15, 2008

A side story of Genealogy of the Holy War first released on the Nintendo Power download service and last game available for SNES.
Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
FE6 Game Logo
ファイアーエムブレム 封印の剣 Game Boy Advance:

JPMarch 29, 2002

The first Fire Emblem title to appear on a Nintendo handheld and first unrelated to the Archanea Series.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
Logo FE7
ファイアーエムブレム 烈火の剣 Game Boy Advance:

JPApril 25, 2003
NANovember 3, 2003
PALJuly 16, 2004
Wii U:
JPMay 14, 2014
EUAugust 21, 2014
NADecember 4, 2014

A prequel to The Binding Blade and the first Fire Emblem title to be released outside of Japan. First game to have a custom Player Avatar that is present in the plot.
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
FE8 Logo
ファイアーエムブレム 聖魔の光石 Game Boy Advance:

JPOctober 7, 2004
NAMay 23, 2005
PALNovember 4, 2005
AUDecember 15, 2011
3DS: WWDecember 16, 2011
Wii U:
JPAugust 6, 2014
EUJanuary 1, 2015
NAJune 18, 2015

The first title in the series to feature a navigable world map and promotion class branching since Fire Emblem Gaiden. Last game avaliable for GBA.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
FE9 Logo
ファイアーエムブレム 蒼炎の軌跡 Nintendo GameCube:

JPApril 20, 2005
NAOctober 17, 2005
PALNovember 4, 2005

The first title in the series to be rendered in three-dimensions and to incorporate full motion video, as well as the first main-series title to feature voice acting.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Radiant Dawn logo
ファイアーエムブレム 暁の女神 Wii:

JPFebruary 22, 2007
NANovember 11, 2007
PALMarch 14, 2008

The sequel to Path of Radiance. The first game in the series to incorporate a save data transfer mechanic, allowing players to upload Path of Radiance data at the start of a new game. Also the first entry in the series to allow creating permanent saves mid-battle.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
FE11 Logo
ファイアーエムブレム 新・暗黒竜と光の剣 Nintendo DS:

JPAugust 7, 2008
PALDecember 5, 2008
NAFebruary 16, 2009
Wii U:
JPN/A
PALN/A
NADecember 8, 2016

Second enhanced remake of Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Introduced the concept of reclassing.
Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem ~Heroes of Light and Shadow~
FE12 Logo
ファイアーエムブレム 新・紋章の謎 〜光と影の英雄〜 Nintendo DS:

JPJuly 15, 2010

Remake of Mystery of the Emblem Book 2. First game to have an Avatar since Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, and the first game to have the Player Avatar engage directly in battlefield combat as a unit.
The debut of Casual Mode. Last game available for Nintendo DS.
Fire Emblem Awakening
FE13 Logo
ファイアーエムブレム覚醒 Nintendo 3DS:

JPApril 19, 2012
NAFebruary 4, 2013
EUApril 19, 2013
AUApril 20, 2013

First game that allowed supporting units to actively assist in battle.
First game to use voice acting outside of animated cut-scenes.
Fire Emblem Fates
FireEmblemFates logo
ファイアーエムブレム if Nintendo 3DS:

JPJune 25, 2015
NAFebruary 19, 2016
EUMay 20, 2016

First game to have multiple game versions.
First game where the players have to choose different storyline paths that do not largely merge back into one later in the story.
Featuring some characters from Awakening universe by default and DLC Xenologue storyline.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
3DS FireEmblemEchoesShadowsofValentia logo 01
ファイアーエムブレム Echoes もうひとりの英雄王 Nintendo 3DS:

JPApril 20, 2017
WWMay 19, 2017

Enhanced remake of Gaiden. First core series Fire Emblem title to feature full dialogue voice-acting.

First game to feature a mechanic that allows the player to rewind turns and undo actions.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem Three Houses Logo

ファイアーエムブレム 風花雪月 Nintendo Switch: WWJuly 26, 2019 Introduced Battalions as an additional battle tactic.

Spin-offs

English language titles Original titles Platforms & release dates Notes
Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga ファイアーエムブレム アカネイア戦記編 SNES: JPSeptember to October 1997 Satellaview prequel stories to Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE
TMS logo
幻影異聞録♯FE

Wii U:
JPDecember 26, 2015
NAJune 24, 2016
EUJune 24, 2016
AUS2016

A turn-based JRPG spin-off developed under collaboration with Atlus as a crossover between Fire Emblem and Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei.
Fire Emblem Heroes
FEH logo
ファイアーエムブレム ヒーローズ iOS and Android: WWFebruary 2, 2017 The first game to be released on mobile platforms. A "gacha"-style game in which players draw random legacy Fire Emblem characters to build their forces.
Fire Emblem Warriors
FEWarriors SwitchDirect
ファイアーエムブレム無双

Nintendo Switch:
JPSeptember 28, 2017
NAOctober 20, 2017
EUOctober 20, 2017
3DS:
JPSeptember 28, 2017
NAOctober 20, 2017
EUOctober 20, 2017

A hack n' slash Warriors series spin-off, under collaboration with Koei Tecmo's Omega Force and Team Ninja.

Gameplay

The Fire Emblem franchise is mainly a Tactical RPG. A majority of games take place on various environments where the player selects a handful of characters in their roster to battle a set enemy faction.

Taking place on a grid-like map, players move their characters across a map, defeating enemy units with the goal of completing a map's objective by defeating enemy units. Each map is unique, featuring a host of terrains from castles, forests, and even active volcanoes. Players can take advantage of certain Terrain for additional Terrain Bonuses.

Playable Characters

Each character comes with a unique set of stats, Movement, Growth Rates, and Classes, giving them individuality from each other.

As units are used in combat, they gain Experience, growing stronger when they accrue enough to Level Up, increasing their stats. Growing to a certain Level allows a player to Promote a character, granting the character a stronger class with increased stats, growth rates, and access to new weapons and/or unit types.

Weapons

The core of the series combat is sourced to the character's weapon options, which are locked to their current class. Characters can use a host of direct weapons such as Swords, Lances, and Axes or ranged options like Bows, Tomes, and Daggers. Some characters are chimeric in nature and have the ability to transform into animals, namely the Manakete race who can transform into dragons. Healing is an option through Staves to recover health of injured allies, preventing them from falling in battle. As characters continuously wield a weapon or staff, they become proficient with them, gaining the ability to wield stronger versions of said equipment.

Unique effects of weapons are important as several weapons have different effects such as reversing the weapon type advantage, debuffing an enemy so their stats are lowered, or dealing effective damage against certain enemies.

Every weapon and staff also carries a set number of uses that denote the number of times they can be used before they break and are unable to be used. Players are given funds throughout the game, allowing them to spend it on new weapons to keep their weapons well stocked. Occasionally, players can receive weapons from defeating certain enemies, stealing them from enemies, or receiving them from a locked chest.

Combat

Players command their units to attack enemies with the goal of reducing the enemy's HP to 0 and keeping their own characters alive. The most important aspect is a character's stats which influence factors such as their ability to connect hits, deal damage, take damage, and launch Critical hits/Skills. Their weapon further contributes by increasing damage output and applying various effects. Other factors influence the outcomes of battles from a weapon's advantage over another or the Support bonuses of nearby allies

Objectives

Every battle in the franchise has a set objective that the player must achieve in order to move on to the next one. Rout the Enemy, Defeat the Boss, Seize, Survive, Protect, and Escape are the most common objective types.

Permanent Death

“If the enemy reduces a unit's HP to zero, that unit will be removed from the game. Lost units are gone for good; you won't be able to use that unit again after that point.”
—Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon in-game guide.

In the Fire Emblem series, when a character's health points reach zero, their deaths are permanent and are thus lost for the rest of the game. This is a deviation from most traditional RPGs, where characters would reach zero health and be merely incapacitated or capable of being revived. This leads players to be mindful of their units and use care in deploying them into battle, keeping back any that are significantly injured. If a plot-important character other than the primary protagonists (whose deaths result in a Game Over) lose all of their health points, they receive a crippling injury that prevents them from fighting, but continue to play a role in the story.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon features side chapters (also called Gaiden chapters) that only become available if the player has lost certain numbers of units; these chapters offer new recruitable characters to prevent the player's roster from growing too thin.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem introduced Casual Mode to the franchise. In Casual Mode, the permanent death mechanic is turned off and any player character that is defeated in battle will stay in the player's roster and become usable again in the following chapter. The purpose of Casual Mode is to ease the difficulty, letting new players into the game more easily. Fire Emblem Fates takes this approach a step further with the introduction of Phoenix Mode, in which defeated characters return to battle on the very next turn with full health. Just as Casual Mode is meant to ease the barrier of entry to those put off by the traditional permanent death mechanic, Phoenix Mode is meant for strategy RPG novices.

In Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, the introductory chapters that make up Lyn's Tale are meant as an extended tutorial for those new to the Fire Emblem series in general. As such, Lyn's Tale does not feature permanent death. Units that are defeated in Lyn's story return in Eliwood's/Hector's story, which makes up the main portion of the game. However, characters that are lost in Lyn's story are weaker than they otherwise would be when they are reintroduced.

Occasionally, an NPC triggers a Game Over scenario in a similar manner to the death of a Lord character and thus must not be allowed to die to finish a map.

World & Themes

The Fire Emblem series does not take place in a singular world. Instead, the stories of Fire Emblem titles comes from various worlds wholly separate from each other. Some titles are interconnected with each other due to taking place in the same world, but different points in time or location such as The Blazing Blade being a prequel story to The Binding Blade or Radiant Dawn being a direct sequel to Path of Radiance.

The overall arching design of the Fire Emblem series relies on medieval Europe, blending themes of knights and magic into the overall lore as well as mythical themes of dragons and pegasus. The series heavily borrow names, themes, and designs from various mythologies, though Norse Mythology is particularly used the most. Other prominently features stories include Arthurian Legends. Fates is notable for blending in Feudal Japan themes for its story, particularly in the nation of Hoshido.

Characters

Over sixteen main series titles, two spin-offs, and a mobile game, hundreds of characters have been featured as playable, enemy, and NPCs. Due to the contained worlds and points in time for each game, rarely does a character appear in multiple games unless games are either a direct story sequel/prequel of another or a remake.

Each game generally features around 30-50 playable characters giving the player a multitude of characters to utilize throughout the game. One to three of these characters are the main protagonists of the games and usually carry the title of Lord to denote them, though there are notable exceptions to this rule. Occasionally, an Avatar character is featured, allowing the player to create and customize a character who appears in story as a representation of themselves during the story. Kris, Robin, Corrin, and Byleth serve as playable Avatars while Mark is a NPC tactician. Other characters of a game's cast are filled with characters of unique histories who can be recruited into the player's army to fight for the Lord character's cause. While separate from each other, several characters across the franchise have similar story themes and gameplay functions that create Archetypes of unit types that have appeared throughout the franchise.

Characters may appear in multiple games and have a change playable status. Eliwood and Hector are NPCs in Binding Blade, but are playable in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Seliph is the opposite, being playable in Genealogy of the Holy War but only appears as an NPC in Thracia 776.

It is rare for a character to appear multiple times outside of direct sequels/prequels and side stories. However, three characters notable exceptions to this, giving the series some tie to the various games. Naga is a divine dragon entity that appears in eight of the main series titles. Jake the name of a man who appears in a multitude of games, though are wholly separate characters from each other. He has appeared as a playable Ballistician in one game to a NPC shopkeeper in a nother. He tends to share a relationship with Anna, another character who appears in multiple games. Anna is particularly notable as she has had multiple incarnations who has appeared throughout the series, holding the record of fourteen appearances with Gaiden and its remake Shadows of Valentia being the only two games she does not appear in. She is commonly depicted as a humble, but whimsical NPC shopkeeper who assists the player by running a Secret Shop but later began making playable appearances starting with Awakening

The Fire Emblem

The Fire Emblem, the namesake of the franchise, is not a singular item. Rather, it takes on many forms depending on the game it is in. Regardless of the game, the Fire Emblem takes the role of a pivotal object or a symbol of importance in the plot. Currently, the Fire Emblem has taken on seven different appearances, including the Binding Shield in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Lehran's Medallion in the Tellius Series, and the Omega form of the Yato in Fire Emblem Fates.

Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia remain the only two games in the franchise that does not have a Fire Emblem involved in its plot. However, its passive connection to the Archanea Series gives it some history with a Fire Emblem.

Gallery

Main Series Titles

Spin-Offs