Fire Emblem Fates is a Japanese tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS, developed by Intelligent Systems, and published by Nintendo. It is the fourteenth game in the Fire Emblem series. It was released in Japan on June 25, 2015 and internationally in 2016. Furthermore, Fire Emblem Fates is a first title in the franchise that was officially released in South Korea. The game is rated C (CERO) in Japan, T (ESRB) in America, and 12 (PEGI) in Europe.
This entry features the first title split, in which two different versions of the game exist, each one with a unique story.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright (ファイアーエムブレムif 白夜王国 , lit. Fire Emblem if: White Night Kingdom) follows the story of Corrin, joining the Kingdom of Hoshido.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest (ファイアーエムブレムif 暗夜王国 , lit. Fire Emblem if: Dark Night Kingdom) which follows the story of Corrin, joining the Kingdom of Nohr instead.
A limited edition version was released containing both story-lines plus a third story-line titled Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation (ファイアーエムブレムif インビジブル・キングダム , lit. Fire Emblem if: Invisible Kingdom), also released as DLC and involves the player aligning with neither kingdom. It has been released concurrent with the other versions. A special themed Nintendo 3DS has been released with the game.
By 2017, a total of 3 million copies had been sold.
Development and Release[]
Fire Emblem Fates was first revealed in the January 2015 Nintendo Direct worldwide and was released in Japan on June 25, 2015. It is developed by the same team that created the previous title; Fire Emblem Awakening and Yūsuke Kozaki designed the characters of the game as well. Manga writer Shin Kibayashi has joined the writing team. According to Satoru Iwata during the Nintendo Direct, the player will have to make numerous choices during the game that will affect the overall story. Unlike past games where choices had little effect on the story, these will be larger choices, and the player will face greater challenges.
In the April 2015 Nintendo Direct it was revealed that the game will revolve around two kingdoms about to enter a great war with each other: the peace-loving country of Hoshido and the glory-seeking country of Nohr. The player will have to choose a country to represent, changing the story overall and will affect the difficulty, which is predetermined by the version of the game bought. There are two versions of the game, each one following a specific story line. Birthright follows the Hoshido storyline which is designed to be friendly for all players, returning or new. Conquest follows the Nohr storyline which is designed to be much more challenging. At the beginning of Chapter 6, the player will have to choose their faction. DLC will be available for all versions of Fates in which the storyline not chosen will be playable on that copy of the game. A third storyline option was also released as DLC sometime after release which revolves around the player choosing neither side. A special edition of the game containing all three paths is available, also after launch of the original two.
Japanese video game website 4Gamer posted an interview with the Fates development team on April 28, 2015. The interview covered a few more details regarding the storyline. The Hoshido route is designed to be more like Awakening, allowing players to train units outside of battle. The Nohr route will be more challenging with less funds and experience on top of more diverse victory tactics compared to Awakening. Players can also adjust the difficulty of the Nohr route if it becomes too difficult. All versions of the game will be the same about 1/6th of the way through, up to Chapter 6, but the rest of the game for all three versions will be different. The idea of choice in the game was inspired from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and its remake Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon where the player was given the choice between recruiting Samson or Arran, but not both. A third route was also created to give the players an option of not vilifying one side. Details about the third storyline were slightly discussed, revealing that the difficulty of the third route is between the Hoshido and Nohr routes.
In the E3 2015 Digital Event, Fire Emblem Fates's official localized name was revealed. GameInformer, in June 2015, revealed that like Japan, North America will receive two different versions called Birthright for the Hoshido side and Conquest for the Nohr side. The November 2015 Nintendo direct confirmed that North America would also receive a special edition containing all three storyline routes. Customers with this version will have Revelation available from the launch date. Alternatively, customers who buy the split versions have the option to buy the opposite storyline at a reduced cost and Revelation as DLC. Revelation was not available for non-Special Edition copies until March 10, 2016. The first wave of DLC was also confirmed for Fates and can be bought in its entirety for a reduced cost or separately for full price. Like Awakening, these DLC packs will be released on a weekly basis.
Fire Emblem Fates was released in South Korea, making the first Fire Emblem game to be translated into the Korean language, although this game has English voices only while retaining the Japanese confessions. Fire Emblem Fates is the very last Fire Emblem title in which Satoru Iwata served as the Executive Producer, released in Japan just two weeks before his passing.
Setting[]
Thousands of years ago, a great war between the First Dragons took place, causing great destruction. One dragon decided to involve humans into the war by forging legendary weapons to end the war. While successful, this unfortunately introduced war to the humans.
In the present, Fates is primarily set on an unnamed continent in the territories of the kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr. Their royalty share a similar line of descent from ancient dragons, but each kingdom worships different dragon deities, the Dawn Dragon and Dusk Dragon respectively. A third central location is the hidden kingdom of Valla, a place only accessible through the Bottomless Canyon which separates Hoshido and Nohr. Once ruled by humans, it is now ruled by the dragon Anankos, who has usurped the throne of Valla and is intentionally provoking war between the two kingdoms.
In the Hidden Truths DLC, it is revealed that Anankos was formerly a kind dragon who gave wisdom to humanity, but his growing power and inability to ascend to the spirit realm with the world's other dragons began corrupting him. After he killed Valla's king in an uncontrolled fit of bestial rage, he finally went mad: his remaining sanity and kindness took temporary shelter in a human form and fathered Corrin before dying, while his dragon self began an insane crusade to destroy humanity.
Several years prior to the start of Fates, Hoshido's King Sumeragi was ambushed by the Nohrian Army during a "peace treaty talk" between the nations in Cheve and was mortally wounded by a rain of arrows before getting slain by the Nohrian King Garon. King Garon then kidnapped Sumeragi's young child, Corrin, and decided to raise them to become an instrument of Nohr's power in the world. Meanwhile, back in Hoshido, with their king dead, Sumeragi's wife Mikoto became the new ruler of the kingdom.
Plot[]
Prologue[]
Corrin is a member of the royal family of Nohr who had been living in isolation for years in the Northern Fortress. Corrin was frequently visited by their 4 siblings: Xander, the crown prince of Nohr, Camilla, the eldest princess, Leo, the youngest prince, and Elise, the youngest princess. After spending many years training to win the approval of Nohr's king, Garon, and leave the fortress, Garon allows them to depart and serve him, with their first task being to executing prisoners captured from the neighboring kingdom of Hoshido. When they refuse to execute them, Garon tasks them to scout an abandoned outpost at the Bottomless Canyon, a vast canyon separating Nohr from Hoshido. At the canyon, Corrin and their retainer, Gunter, are betrayed by Hans, a Nohrian ruffian, who attacks Gunter, sending him into the Bottomless Canyon. Enraged, Corrin discovers their latent dragon traits, but before they can exact their vengeance, they are flung into the canyon by the Ganglari, a sword gifted to them by King Garon. Suddenly Lilith, another retainer, appears and rescues them, not only bringing them to the Astral Realm, but also revealing her true dragon form.
Upon returning back to the Bottomless Canyon, Corrin is knocked out by Rinkah and returned to Castle Shirasagi by Kaze. There, Corrin meets the Hoshidan Queen, Mikoto. Upon arrival, the Queen hugs Corrin, revealing that they are her lost child, kidnapped by Nohr many years ago. Corrin is stunned by the revelation and decides to wander around a bit to collect their thoughts. At a nearby lake, they meet a mysterious blue-haired singer named Azura, who reveals that she was a Nohrian princess who was kidnapped by Hoshido and raised as a princess. Over the course of a few days, Corrin reunites with their other blood siblings including Ryoma, the high prince of Hoshido, Hinoka, the eldest princess, Takumi, the youngest prince, and Sakura, the youngest princess. Mikoto decides to announce the return of her child to the people of Hoshido at the Castle Town. There, a mysterious hooded figure takes the Ganglari from Corrin and uses it to induce an explosion, destroying the town and claiming the lives of many Hoshido civilians, including Mikoto. Grief-stricken by the death of their mother, Corrin's draconic heritage runs wild, causing them to degenerate into a mindless dragon. After Corrin and co. manage to repel the hooded figure, as well as other soldiers, Azura manages to quell the rage of Corrin with a mysterious song. Now surrounded by the destruction that they had inadvertently caused, the statue in the middle of the town had been destroyed, revealing that a sword was hidden inside. The sword mysteriously levitates and flings itself at Corrin, choosing them to be its wielder. Ryoma reveals that the Yato has chosen Corrin to bear a great destiny to change the world.
With the death of the queen, the magical barrier she erected, protecting Hoshido from years of attacks from Nohr, has dissipated, allowing the Nohrian army to invade. With war now inevitable between the two kingdoms, Hoshido launches its army into battle. At the Plains of Hoshido, the two armies meet, led by the two kingdom's respective royal families. Having spent years in Nohr as a member of the royal family, the Nohrian royals beg for Corrin to return to them and fight for the glory of Nohr. The Hoshidan royals also beckon Corrin to return to them to fight to protect Hoshido and stay with their newly reunited blood siblings. Corrin is then to make a decision. Will they return to Nohr, will they stay at Hoshido, or will they refuse to side with either?
Birthright[]
Corrin, unwilling to return to the heartless king who caused the deaths of countless innocent civilians, decides to defend Hoshido and side with their blood family. Despite the protests of the Nohrian royals, Corrin remains with Hoshido. Together, Corrin and the Hoshidan royal siblings are able to force the Nohrians to retreat.
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Birthright starts off with Corrin going throughout Hoshido, protecting the citizens from the Nohrian army. During their travels, they receive news from Hinoka that both Ryoma and Takumi have gone missing. After gathering more forces throughout Hoshido, they are eventually reunited with Takumi, who was brainwashed and is brought to his senses by Azura's songs. The Hoshidan army later teams up with a Nohrian resistance army bent on ending King Garon's tyrannical rule and end up fighting Camilla.
After defeating Camilla, Corrin finally reunites with Ryoma and with the Hoshidian royal family together at last, they begin their assault on the Nohrian capital. Corrin pushes through the Nohrian border and is accidentally drawn into a conflict with the wolfskin tribe led by Keaton. Afterwards, a rockslide occurs, potentially resulting in Kaze's death should he have not bonded with Corrin enough. As the group approaches Palace Macarath, Takumi contracts a deadly illness. With the aid of Flora, the group finds medicine to treat him in Palace Macarath and are ambushed by Iago, who warns Corrin that there is a traitor in their group. The group then reaches the Ice Tribe village, where Flora is forced to betray the group by Garon in order to protect the villagers. After her defeat, she commits suicide by self-immolation.
Corrin next encounters Leo, and defeats him in battle. However, Corrin refuses to slay the man they once called brother and asks Leo to join them in ending the war, which he refuses due to him unwilling to fight Garon and his own siblings. Azura gives him a crystal that will reveal the true nature of the war to him, and Leo gives them a magic tome that transports them to Notre Sagesse. There, Corrin meets the Rainbow Sage, who blesses the Yato. The Yato resonates with Takumi's Fujin Yumi and transforms into the Noble Yato.
Afterwards, the Hoshidans enter Fort Dragonfall, where Iago traps them inside using the power he got from Garon and summons Faceless against them. After the battle, with Azura's song power, the Hoshidans escape the fortress alive, and Azura sneaks away to hide the consequences of using her power. Corrin notices that it is getting worse, and she admits that the more powerful the target, the more energy she uses, and that using it too long would kill her. Corrin asks her not to use it too long again, fearing for her life. Azura complies but tells them that she will need to use it on Garon to end the war. Then, the Hoshidans push their way into Windmire and defeat Shura. There, they encounter Elise, who agrees to aid them in order to stop the fighting.
After subduing Camilla one last time, the group encounters Hans. He kills Lilith with an attack meant for Corrin before being slain in battle. The Hoshidans begin their assault of Castle Krakenburg, and encounter Iago once again, who reveals that Takumi's brainwashing was not totally cured and that he has been unwittingly feeding intelligence to the Nohrians and used him to figure out their location each time throughout the entire war. Corrin manages to permanently break him free, and they defeat Iago once more, who then attempts to escape his punishment, but he is interrupted by Leo, who calls him out for disgracing Nohr and warns him he will no longer allow him to do so and will kill him. Iago begs a second time, but Leo kills him, putting an end to his cowardly schemes for good. Leo informs Corrin that he has been enlightened on the righteousness of their cause, but admits that he is still unable to join them in fighting Garon and cannot aid them further, but he will not stop them and allows them to pass.
The group then encounters Xander, the only person left guarding Garon. Corrin is forced to duel Xander alone. Xander nearly kills Corrin, however Elise, unwilling to see her two beloved siblings fight, intercepts the fatal strike and dies in Xander's arms. Despite the result, Xander refuses to back down and continues to fight Corrin, with Xander's retainers, Laslow and Peri arriving with reinforcements. However, Corrin outmatches Xander, and the Hoshidans are able to defeat the reinforcements. Fatally wounded and fully aware of Garon's madness, he tasks Corrin with defeating Garon before he dies.
At the climax of Birthright, Corrin finally confronts Garon in the Royal Chamber to end his reign. Initially, Corrin and the Hoshidans are able to defeat Garon. However, unwilling to surrender, Garon transforms into a Blight Dragon, destroys the Yato, and fatally wounds Corrin. Left unconscious, Corrin is visited by Flora, Lilith, Xander, and Elise who encourage Corrin to return and continue to fight back. Corrin is also encouraged by the voice of the Hoshidan army, whose pleas spur them to stand back up. Now fully recovered, they reforge the Yato and unlocks its full potential thanks to its resonation with the Raijinto, creating the Blazing Yato. The Hoshidan army proceeds to fight Garon again with Azura who uses her special song to weaken him. After a lengthy battle, Corrin, Azura, and the Hoshidan army finally kill Garon for good. Azura, who had overtaxed herself by singing her special song throughout Birthright, dissolves into water as she thanks Corrin for ending the war.
With the death of King Garon, the war between Hoshido and Nohr ends. Now with both kingdoms at peace and without rulers, Ryoma takes it upon himself to take his rightful place as King of Hoshido and states that Hoshido and Nohr have made peace to avoid another war. At his ascension, Camilla and Leo also come to the ceremony. Camila announces that she has relinquished her title as rightful ruler of Nohr to Leo, making him the King of Nohr, as she does not want to rule the kingdom, while they also mourn the loss of Xander and Elise. With the first sign of peace, the Hoshido siblings and Corrin head to the festival in town.
Taking a break from the festival, Corrin wanders to the lake where they first met Azura. Suddenly, Corrin can hear her song and sees a hallucination of her. Azura asks what Corrin sees in the lake. As they look, they simply thank Azura for being a selfless person, but her visage disappears. Azura hopes that they will meet again one day, a sentiment that Corrin shares. At the newly rebuilt Castle Town, a statue of Mikoto has been erected. The Hoshidan siblings vow to continue to restore peace to the world to the statue of their mother, with Corrin continuing to help.
Conquest[]
Corrin, having unanswered questions, decides to side with Nohr in order to learn more about King Garon's intentions. Despite the Hoshidan royals' pleas for them to reconsider, Corrin remains stalwart with their decision, and the Nohrians help them in defeating the Hoshidans. With their first battle a victory, the Nohrian royal family returns to Castle Krakenburg with Corrin in tow, much to Garon's displeasure in their return.
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Wanting to test their loyalty, Garon tasks Corrin with quelling a rebellion at the Ice Tribe alone among other tasks, each one more grueling on Corrin's faith and beliefs of not wanting to cause unnecessary bloodshed. Iago, King Garon's tactician, orchestrates much hardships for Corrin throughout Conquest, but Corrin pulls through each attempt. After rescuing the Rainbow Sage at Notre Sagesse, he unlocks the Yato's power, allowing it to resonate with Leo's Brynhildr, achieving the Grim Yato form, but not the full power of the blade yet. The Rainbow Sage proceeds to commit suicide to prevent his power from being further used.
Garon, pleased by Corrin's supposed actions for the sake of Nohr, finally allows them to follow him closely, tasking them to fight for Nohr's conquest of Hoshido. He sends Corrin to stop the rebellion uprising that has broken out in Cheve. The Nohrians come out victorious and the army has spared the lives of the enemy soldiers, but Hans, along with his goons, starts killing not only the remaining wounded Hoshidan troops and Chevian knights, but also the Chevian civilians following Corrin's defeat of Scarlet, having been ordered by Garon to do so. Corrin attempts to stop him, but Hans claims that he is just following Garon's orders and that he cannot listen to Corrin since Garon's word is law, before continuing his killing spree. Corrin is upset at the needless slaughter and decides they must confront Garon.
At the Opera House a mysterious songstress causes great pain in Garon through her dance, prompting him to have Corrin slaughtering of all songstresses and dancers in Cyrkensia. Corrin retaliates by trying to raise their objection to his demand, instigating an argument that sees Garon becoming progressively infuriated and threatening Corrin. Leo quickly gets Corrin out of Garon's sight, and reasons with Corrin that while he disagrees with Garon's inhumane ways, it is still wholly unwise to openly defy him as this could result in their death. Revealing that he and his siblings have constantly appeared to comply with Garon's orders while doing good behind the scenes, Leo quickly comes up with a plan to rescue as many of the songstresses from Garon's wrath as possible. Shortly before the plan is carried out, Leo's Brynhildr suddenly reacts with Corrin's Yato without any prior warning, transforming it into the Grim Yato.
Corrin eventually follows Azura to a lake where they watch as she descends and disappears into the depths. Corrin follows suit and winds up in a mysterious world and reunites with Gunter, who had miraculously survived his fall. Azura helps them return back to their world. Azura tells Corrin in order to bring peace to the world, Garon has to be dethroned and she shows Corrin an orb, showing Garon's true form, a horrendous water demon. Azura tells Corrin that they cannot tell their siblings about the other world due to the curse and they must conquer Hoshido, make Garon sit on the throne in Castle Shirasagi, as the throne is said to reveal a person's true form, so they can expose Garon and kill him to finally end the war.
Corrin travels with the Nohrian army, now in full force with Xander joining with them, as they proceed to conquer the Hoshidan territories. During their entrance to the Hoshidan capital, Iago orchestrates another attack on the Eternal Stairway, resulting in the death of Lilith who took a fatal blow from a Faceless ambush. Corrin is forced to fight each of the Royal Siblings, though they do their best to spare their lives. Sakura is fought first, but Corrin defeats her forces and takes her as a prisoner of war to protect her, though her men are killed by Hans, and Garon arrives to support it. They encounter Takumi next, who is defeated, but after the battle, even though he was not fatally wounded, he flings himself off the fort after refusing to surrender. Finally, just outside of Castle Shirasagi, Hinoka makes a final stand, but she too is defeated. Corrin decides to defy Garon and tells her to hide until the end of the war, but takes her bloodied naginata as "proof" of her execution.
The Nohrian army finally arrives at Castle Shirasagi, where they make the final assault to get Garon to the throne. There Corrin presents Hinoka's naginata to Garon as proof of her demise. Iago voices his distrust, but Garon believes them and silences Iago. Inside, they encounter Ryoma, who acts as the final defense. Iago throws Hinoka's naginata and tells Ryoma that Corrin killed her. Corrin is then forced to say that Hinoka was slain by them. Enraged by Corrin's actions, Ryoma engages Corrin in a one-on-one duel. Saizo and Kagero, Ryoma's retainers, arrive with reinforcements to attack the rest of the Nohrian army, preventing them from intervening in Ryoma and Corrin's duel. Eventually, the Nohrians are able to defeat the Hoshidan reinforcements, and Corrin bests Ryoma. As Ryoma lays defeated, Corrin reveals to Ryoma that Hinoka is still alive. Garon appears and orders Corrin to either kill Ryoma or be put to death. Knowing that Corrin's goodwill remains, and that Corrin will die if they do not execute him, Ryoma performs seppuku to spare them the agony, much to the sadness of Corrin and Azura. With the death of Ryoma, Garon heads to the throne room to finish his conquest, but forbids his children and his loyalist from entering.
Outside, Iago attempts to murder Corrin after discovering they spared Hinoka, but the Nohrian royals intervene and decide to kill Iago, as well as Hans and Garon's other loyalists, for staining the glory of Nohr with their cowardly and disgraceful schemes. They manage to kill Hans and all of Garon's loyalists, and they corner Iago, who then disgracefully attempts to beg for his life by accusing Garon of making him fight and that he is "innocent", but Leo silences Iago's pitiful attempt to receive mercy. He mercilessly executes Iago, putting an end to his schemes against Corrin and avenging all the people they killed. With Iago's death, Corrin finally reveals to their siblings that the war isn't over yet and they must kill Garon so they can bring true peace to the world.
Corrin reveals to their siblings that the real Garon has been long dead and the one they have been with is nothing more than a puppet to a greater force and that there's no way to save him, killing him in the only option. Despite their disbelief in Corrin's claim, they decide to enter the Hoshidian Throne, where they see Garon's true form being exposed for sitting on the throne, proving Azura's claims. The siblings are saddened by this revelation and refuse to fight their "father." Garon curses Corrin for tricking him, stating anyone who sees his true form must die. Corrin attempts to attack Garon, but the Yato is unable to hurt him. As Garon is about to kill Corrin, Xander defends them, calls out the fake Garon, stating he is no longer the father he knew and tells Corrin he will help them kill Garon. Then Xander's Siegfried resonates with the Yato, unlocking its final form, the Shadow Yato. With the power of the Shadow Yato, Xander encourages the Nohrian siblings to help Corrin kill Garon and they all agree to put end to Garon's reign of terror, and Garon is finally killed for good.
As they celebrate their victory, Takumi makes a sudden appearance, wreathed in a mysterious miasma. Using his bow, he shatters Corrin's Yato and knocks them unconscious. In a dream, Corrin encounters Lilith, Mikoto and Ryoma, who encourage them to finish the fight. The real Takumi also appears, stating that the "Takumi" they were facing is no more than another puppet for the same mysterious force controlling Garon. Takumi tasks them with defeating the shell of his body and laments that they could have fought together in another path. Spurred further by the forces of the Nohrian army, Corrin recovers and proceeds to fight alongside the army. Throughout the battle, Azura uses her song to weaken Takumi and thanks to her efforts alongside Corrin and the Nohrian army, Takumi is finally put to rest. However, Azura mysteriously vanished after the battle, likely dissolving into water due to overusing her powers, much like she did in Birthright.
After the war, with the defeat of both Garon and Takumi, peace has been restored to both Hoshido and Nohr. With both nations without their former rulers, Xander takes it upon himself to ascend the throne and take his place as the new King of Nohr and states that they have made peace with Hoshido, ending their conflict. Hinoka and Sakura safely survived the war thanks to Corrin and were set free. With the death of Ryoma and Takumi, Hinoka becomes the new Queen of Hoshido and a new peace treaty has been established between the kingdoms. While Hinoka is more or less content with the deal and holds no personal animosity against the Nohrian royals, she warns them that it will take a long time to mend all the wounds left by the invasion. After encountering Azura's spirit one last time, Corrin vows to continue to spread peace for the world, now with his Nohrian siblings by their side.
Revelation[]
Corrin, unable to bear the thought of fighting either of their families, decides to not ally with either. After taking down the lead commanders of the Nohrian and Hoshidan armies, both perceive this act as treason and Corrin is forced to flee.
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Azura brings them (and either Felicia or Jakob) to the Bottomless Canyon where she makes them jump with her. They arrive in the kingdom of Valla, where Azura is finally able to reveal the secrets of the kingdom and its role behind the conflict between Hoshido and Nohr. Additionally, they're reunited with a still-alive Gunter. With the identity of the true enemy known, Azura encourages Corrin to get the armies of Nohr and Hoshido to cooperate in order to battle the Kingdom of Valla and its ruler, the dragon Anankos.
Corrin travels through Hoshido and Nohr, gathering forces from both nations by gaining their trust. At Notre Sagesse, the Rainbow Sage unlocks the power of the Yato, transforming it into the Alpha Yato. Though not fully powered, Corrin now has the means to stop Anankos.
At the climax of the first half, some of the royals decide to join Corrin's quest, having found the strength of their bond with them enough to trust them. At the Bottomless Canyon, Corrin's army defeat and slain Hans and Iago, who were both sent by Garon to stop them, and Ryoma and Xander form a truce between their nations in order to stop the Kingdom of Valla.
As the two armies jump into the Canyon, Corrin is ambushed by a mysterious assailant, but Scarlet takes the blow for Corrin and dies.
During their travels through Valla, the army encounters a Vallite boy, Anthony, who supposedly managed to escape Anankos' control, however, this turns out to be a ploy and he betrays the army. However, he is swiftly dispatched once he is transformed into a Faceless when his failures upset Anankos. As the army approaches the Vallite castle, unrest begins to form due to a string of attacks on the army, hinting that someone may be a spy.
They later encounter a resurrected and controlled Arete, the former Queen of both Valla and Nohr, and Azura's mother. After battling her several times, she is finally defeated and freed from Anankos' control.
Now in the full assault of the Castle, Corrin encounters Mikoto, who is revived as another one of Anankos' puppets. After defeating her, Mikoto reveals that Corrin is actually a member of the Vallite royalty and is released from Anankos' control.
After, they encounter King Sumeragi, who is revealed to be the hooded man at the beginning of the game. Sumeragi is eventually brought down and expresses his pride in his children, knowing that they have the strength to end Anankos. Sumeragi also reveals that Corrin is not his child and that they have no blood connection to the Hoshidan royal siblings.
At the throne room, a trap is set that affects everyone but Corrin and Azura. Gunter surmises that Corrin and Azura are the traitors because of their ties to Valla, however, Gunter accidentally mentions information about Scarlet that could not have been known to anyone but Corrin and whoever attacked her. Gunter then reveals that he was the traitor all along (albeit one brainwashed by Anankos) and attacks Corrin's army. However, Corrin defeats and forgives him, allowing him to return to service in their army.
At the climax of the game, Anankos makes a full appearance and attacks the army. He summons King Garon, who offers himself to be the vessel for Anankos, but Anankos devours him instead, regaining the lost power he had gifted him.
Corrin's Yato resonates with all four of their brother's weapons, transforming it into the Omega Yato, granting Corrin full power to finally end Anankos. After a long-fought battle, Anankos is finally slain, restoring peace to the world. The portal to Valla from the Bottomless Canyon is sealed, but Valla is reformed with land granted from Hoshido and Nohr.
For their role in the war as the leader of the army, Azura relinquishes her birthright as the crown princess of Valla to Corrin, making them the new monarch of the restored Valla. Hoshido and Nohr formally form an alliance with each other and vow to preserve peace throughout the world.
Hidden Truths[]
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In the Hidden Truths DLC, it is revealed that Anankos split his soul in two, and his gentle personality took on human form. His human form fell in love with Mikoto and they had a child—Corrin. It is also revealed that Lilith is a fragment of the dragon Anankos's rage, and Anankos calls her his child, technically making her Corrin's sister.
Returning Features[]
- The player can create an Avatar for the game.
- The player has more customizable options for their Avatar than in Awakening except for body size which has been reduced to two per gender.
- Female Avatars have special hair accessories.
- Special clothing similar to New Mystery of the Emblem can be equipped on all units in the game via My Castle. These include hats, masks, clothes, and gloves which can be worn in battle and have a variety of stat boosts. Like classes, these will be absent in cinematic cutscenes.
- The Pair Up and Dual System functions from Awakening return under new tactics called Attack Stance and Guard Stance.
- In addition, the enemy can use the Attack Stance and Guard Stance unlike the enemies in Awakening, which did not use the Dual System at all.
- The game has voice acting, much like Awakening. However, dual audio is omitted and voices are no longer heard during supports, but they are still heard in the story.
- Each version of the game changes the format of overall gameplay outside of the storyline.
- The Birthright path offers unlimited opportunities for gold and as such, experience. The player can level up characters outside of the storyline chapters by paying a fee to initiate a skirmish, similar to using a Reeking Box. Like Awakening, map victory conditions will mostly be either rout the enemy or defeat the boss.
- The Conquest path is more structured, with experience and funds being much more limited and more victory conditions are present such as defending a base, breaking through the enemy lines, and turn restrictions for certain maps.
- The Revelation path is a mid-set of difficulty between the first two paths; being more difficult than the Birthright path but less difficult than the Conquest path.
- Like in Conquest, certain conditions will be necessary to complete the map, but like Birthright, the majority objectives of the story are either rout the enemy or defeat the boss.
- Skirmishes are included, with unlimited gold like Birthright.
- All character classes from both paths are available. Also, all buildings available in My Castle in both paths are included as well.
- Skills make a return in the game and units can learn new skills as they level up.
- Each unit (excluding amiibo units and Einherjar) is given a Personal Skill that is unique to them and that will always be equipped. They also have 5 additional skill slots to equip whatever skill their character learns.
- Reclassing and Promotion Branching are featured in the game.
- All characters have one fixed reclassing option, reduced from two in Awakening.
- The Heart Seal allows a unit to reclass into their secondary class at the same tier, but does not reset levels nor can it demote a unit like the Second Seal.
- Units can gain more reclass options by using a Friendship Seal with a friend and a Partner Seal with their spouse.
- Should certain classes clash with another characters' secondary class, the one who A+ supports another with an incompatible class will instead gain a class parallel to the original.
- Monsters similar to the Risen, called Faceless, make an appearance.
- StreetPass makes a return, along with online features that work in a similar fashion.
- Casual Mode returns.
- Like Fire Emblem Gaiden, weapon durability is not featured in the game. However, staves retain their limited uses.
- Knives return from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn under a new weapon class: Shuriken.
- The Support system from Awakening returns with unique conversations.
- S-Supports and Marriage return alongside of second generation characters. Unlike Genealogy of the Holy War and Awakening, children are determined by their fathers while their hair colors are determined by their mothers.
- Marriage causes the two characters to share their respective classes or secondary classes with each other using Partner Seals. Children also adopt their parents' classes.
- Players can have same-sex S-Supports for their Avatar if they form one with Niles or Rhajat.
- A total of 9 save slots are available for the player to use in the special edition and eShop version of the game, 3 in the standalone Birthright and Conquest copies.
- Capture returns from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, though completely reworked.
- Special DLC maps return with a variety of rewards for completing them. Characters appearing in these are Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, and Anna, Anna being recruitable in one of her appearances.
- Fates uses varying Weapon Ranks. Each class has a specific Weapon Rank maximum with S Rank obtainable to very specific classes: i.e., only Maids and Butlers can reach S Rank in Staves, only Ninjas can have S Rank in Daggers / Shurikens, etc.
New Features[]
- New weapons and equipment, including katana, naginata, yumi, clubs, scrolls, shuriken, and rods.
- Most classes are separated by routes, meaning that some are exclusive to a side.
- Nohrian classes: Nohr Prince/Princess, Maid, Butler, Malig Knight, Nohr Noble, Wolfskin and Wolfssegner.
- Hoshidan classes: Songstress, Oni Savage, Oni Chieftain, Priestess, Ninja, Mechanist, Master of Arms, Spear Fighter, Blacksmith, Basara, Great Master, Kinshi Knight, Master Ninja, Hoshido Noble, Kitsune and Nine-Tails.
- All classes are unisex such as the Sky Knight compared to the long running Pegasus Knight class which was female exclusive in all previous games.
- However, DLC classes such as Vanguard, Ballistician, Witch etc. still come with gender restrictions. Maid and Butler, as are Shrine Maiden, Priestess, Monk, and Great Master are also split by gender.
- The cast of Fates is split in half. Half are playable in Conquest only while half are playable in Birthright only. Revelation allows almost all characters to be playable with the exception of two. However, ten characters are always available in all three routes.
- All royalty characters, including Corrin, have the ability known as Dragon Vein, which allows them to alter the terrain at certain locations during Chapter and Paralogue battles.
- The DLC item First Blood allows all (non-bonus) units that consume it to utilize the Dragon Vein ability as well.
- Children of royal characters are also able to use Dragon Vein.
- A new mode called "Phoenix Mode" is introduced, which revives any fallen allied character on the next player phase.
- Gameplay mode style and difficulty can be lowered in the middle of a playthrough. Once lowered, difficulty and game mode style cannot be raised. Players can change from Classic Mode to Casual Mode but not in reverse. Phoenix Mode and Casual Mode can be switched back and forth. The storyline will be unaffected by gameplay mode changes.
- The Weapon Triangle has been revised. The triangle flow now works as follows:
- Sword and Magic > Axe and Bow > Lance and Shuriken > Sword and Magic
- Nearly all weapons have different effects that gives bonuses and penalties when used including stat bonuses during battles, stat penalties after battle, inability to double attack or critical, and the return of Weapon Triangle effectiveness reversal.
- A customizable home base called "My Castle" allows players to build their own village that is used for StreetPass features and a variety of other in game features.
- amiibo support for four of the Fire Emblem representatives in Super Smash Bros. characters: Ike, Marth, Robin, and Lucina, which will allow players to recruit each character, receive and buy unique Accessories, and unique weapons. Roy is not compatible with Fates nor is any Fire Emblem amiibo released after Fates.
- Warning features on specific enemies during a battle: A yellow warning means either that the unit(s) are carrying high critical hit rate weapons or that they are carrying weapons that deal extra damage to the support unit in a defensive stance, and red warning means the unit(s) are carrying weapons that deal bonus damage to the lead unit.
- A+ Support Ranks, which allows units to use Friendship Seals to be able to reclass into one of their friends' classes.
- Einherjar-esque bonus units are featured in Fates. These characters can be accessed via Fire Emblem Cipher TCG codes in Japan. It is unknown if the cipher codes will be available for international release. These cards include Marth, Lucina, and Minerva.
- Fates features an original song called Lost in Thoughts All Alone, essentially replacing the original Fire Emblem theme's role as the main theme song of the game; however, this theme is not completely absent from the game, as it can be heard for a few seconds in the games opening cut scene as well as most of the Revelation ending cutscene. This can also be heard during the campaign summary.
- Two players can create units called a "Bond Units" by trading accessories through visiting other players' castles.
Characters[]
- See main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem Fates.
Fates features 61 playable characters (63 if both genders of Corrin and Kana are considered separate characters) in the base game not factoring any additional content. Due to the game having three separate routes, some characters cannot be recruited in certain routes during their stories. The Child Character mechanic is used in Fates, thus 41 (or 42) of the cast are parent characters while 20 (or 21) of the characters are Child Characters.
Anna is exclusive to DLC. Fates supports amiibo and Marth, Ike, male Robin, and Lucina serve as exclusive playable units only obtained through this feature. In Japan, Minerva is available as exclusive DLC through a special Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) promotion. She is not available in all other regions outside of Japan. In total, with all additional characters, Fates features 66 total playable characters in all regions except for Japan which has 67.
Chapters[]
- See main article: Chapters (Fire Emblem Fates).
Classes[]
- See main article: List of classes in Fire Emblem Fates
Version Differences[]
Fates saw changes in its localized releases, seeing alterations of the script and certain mechanics.
- For a full timeline of version differences, see here.
Collector's Editions[]
In North America, Fates had a special Edition, which included both Birthright and Conquest, as well as early access to Revelation all on one cartridge. It included an 80-page art book with sketches and concept art, as well as an illustrated carrying pouch for the Nintendo 3DS. Pre-orders were taken for $79.99.
Nintendo of Europe's special edition includes all three games on one cartridge also, as well as a steelbook case, artbook and double-sided poster. Exclusive by GAME, pre-orders were taken for £69.99 ahead of the 20th May release.
The limited edition New Nintendo 3DS XL model (which doesn't include the games) was also up for pre-order for £179.99.
Voice cast[]
See: List of Voice Actors in Fire Emblem Fates
Trivia[]
- This is the last voice acting role of Rokurō Naya, the Japanese voice actor for Gunter. Naya died shortly before this game was released.
- Fates was the first Fire Emblem game since 2007's Radiant Dawn to not involve Cup of Tea Productions (who recorded Awakening, as well as the proceeding games, Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Three Houses) or 8-4 ltd (the localizers of Shadow Dragon, Awakening, as well as Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) in the localization and voice recording.
- This is the last Fire Emblem title for Satoru Iwata as its Executive Producer, as he died of bile duct tumor on July 11, 2015, two weeks after its release in Japan.