Nintendo of America’s Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang started Fire Emblem FEbruary on last week’s Nintendo Minute, and have continued their discussion about the Nintendo 3DS exclusive on the
official Nintendo Tumblr.
That sees them share five things that they have particularly enjoyed about the game, such as the differences between Birthright and Conquest, the My Castle feature, the battle animations, map variety and building relationships with your band of heroes.
Fire Emblem Fates will release exclusively for Nintendo 3DS across North America on February 19th, and in Europe in 2016.
Krysta: Really excited this week. Guess why?
Kit: It’s “peach week” in your Fruit of the Week club?
Krysta: How did you know? I’m excited about that but I’m really excited about Fire Emblem Fates!! We started Fire Emblem FEbruary last week on Nintendo Minute and we’re doing a month of videos dedicated to this amazing game. So, since it’s occupying our hearts and minds, why not talk about it today too!
Kit: That IS more exciting than peaches! We’re both pretty deep into it, so we wanted to share with everyone this week a few of the things that we are absolutely loving about it so far. Deploy the list!!!
Krysta: NUMBER 1: The two versions of the game, Birthright and Conquest, are really different and each have unique qualities!
Kit: Absolutely. We’re playing different versions and swapping stories about our experiences, and I’ve been really surprised by how different these two versions have been! It’s especially interesting to hear about how some characters have completely different roles depending on which version you are playing.
Krysta: Totally! It was a very pleasant surprise for me when we started playing and talking about our experiences. Also what’s super interesting is that it actually gives me more insight into the characters of each family and their motivations. There are characters who I fight all the time on the battlefield but then you’re able to tell me more backstory about them from the version you’re playing. In our next Nintendo Minute Fire Emblem FEbruary video we’ll be revealing which version we are each playing (cue dramatic music).
Kit: NUMBER 2: The new My Castle feature is a pretty big addition to the series, and it gives you a hub area to build out between missions. There’s a lot you can do there, like buy new weapons or build up your relationship with your squad-mates.
Krysta: Yes, this is a really cool feature that allows you to customize your happy place between battles. Another thing I really like is visiting other people’s castles via StreetPass. I went to yours and it was a 6/10. Improvements could be made, Kit…
Kit: I really wasn’t prepared for all the structures you could build. You’re right, it was kind of a hodgepodge for a while, but fortunately you can move everything around. It’s better now. Trust me!
Krysta: NUMBER 3: The battle animations are super-duper slick.
Kit: Super-duper OOPER. When you start a battle, the camera zooms in from the top-down 2D view right into a close-up with the 3D models. The transition is smooth, and the awesome thing is that your position on the top-down map is perfectly represented in the close-up view. You can do this in My Castle too.
Krysta: That, on top of the amazing close-up of your units fighting, really takes you into the action. I love just watching my mages take down enemies with the most elaborate spells ever. One spell is literally him growing a tree under the enemy!
Kit: NUMBER 4: Speaking of maps, we’ve noted a huge variety in the types of maps in missions so far.
Krysta: What’s cool is that the goal for each map is not always just “kill the boss” or “kill all the enemies.” It really challenges your strategic thinking to do other things. There was one map where I had to find the boss who was disguised but every turn I took, more money was stolen from my war chest so I had to find and defeat the boss in the fewest turns possible. I was so stressed, but eventually I took him down!
Kit: Something else that’s new are these special spaces called “Dragon Vein” – these are spots where you can alter the map by activating them with certain characters. They usually are a big help but one time I activated a panel with spikes that did a bunch of damage to most of my army. This is the Fire Emblem equivalent of “look both ways before crossing the street.”
Krysta: ):Haha! I think I’ve done that too… Ok last but not least; NUMBER 5: The relationships….who doesn’t love love?
Kit: It’s been interesting to talk to different people in the office about the game. For some of them, the action begins after the mission ends (smarmy sunglasses emoji)! I think it’s impressive how there are some really deep character arcs built into these support discussions.
Krysta: When you do this and your characters get married, you also open up Paralogues to get additional kid characters. It’s always fun to pair up different characters and play these Paralogues to get new characters into your army.
Kit: I know you’re married in the game already, Krysta, and it seems like you knew pretty early how you wanted that to play out, but I’m still uh, playing the field and thinking through my options.
Krysta: Ok, that’s TMI on your dating habits even if it is imaginary.
Kit: This list could go on and on and on, but I think it’s a nice mental image to end on.
Krysta: Don’t forget to join us on Nintendo Minute on Fridays for Fire Emblem FEbruary! Talk to you later!
