Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem is a remake of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is the second Fire Emblem remake for the Nintendo DS. It was released on July 15, 2010 in Japan. It is the only entry to not receive an official localization and international release since the series began receiving localizations with Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.
Development
New Mystery of the Emblem is a a remake of Book II of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem. Unlike the previous game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, itself a remake of the first Fire Emblem title that eschewed more modern series features like Support Conversations, New Mystery features a greater divergence from the original Mystery of the Emblem story and introduced new gameplay features that would become commonplace in Fire Emblem going forward.
One of these features was the introduction of Casual Mode. While the concept of permanent death had been a staple of the franchise's core game design since its inception, the nature of the mechanic as a required element also had the effect of limiting the franchise's audience. Casual Mode is an optional gameplay mode that removes permanent death from gameplay. Any unit that runs out of HP in battle will instead retreat, remaining alive and available for play in the following chapter.
Additionally, one of the more criticized aspects of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon was the inclusion of brand new units unique to that remake that could only be encountered and recruited if the player permanently lost large numbers of units by specific points in the game; a concept that was counter to the notion that the player should be encouraged to keep their units alive. New Mystery of the Emblem instead allows for the player to recruit every unit in the game without enforcing such a requirement. It features the largest roster of playable characters of any Fire Emblem to date with 77 in the base game and 81 with the Assassins DLC, barring the inclusion of units such as the Einherjar in Fire Emblem: Awakening.
Another major new feature introduced alongside Casual Mode is the Avatar unit. The story of New Mystery of the Emblem is rewritten in such a way to include a secondary character as a deuteragonist. This character, named Kris by default, is fully customizable in name, gender, appearance, and traits.
Casual Mode has since been included in every new core Fire Emblem entry, while Avatars have been an element in every entry going forward save the Fire Emblem Gaiden remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
Setting
- See also: Archanea Series
Plot
- See also: Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
The story of New Mystery of the Emblem is specifically a retelling of Book II of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem. The game stars Marth, the hero of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the original Mystery of the Emblem as he fights in a conflict known as the War of Heroes. He is accompanied by Kris, an Altean knight and hero of the war completely forgotten by history, referred to as the "Hero of Shadow". With the introduction of Kris, the story also implements a new prologue that serves as their introduction to the story as well as a gameplay tutorial.
Mystery of the Emblem's story is further updated through the inclusion of new characters, including those introduced in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, as well as characters introduced in Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga.
Changes compared to Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
- Frey is confirmed to have been the canonical sacrifice in the prologue of Shadow Dragon.
- Altean recruits Luke, Roderick, Cecil, and Ryan, while still irrelevant in the main story, are heavily featured in the remake's prologue chapters as part of Kris and Katarina's platoon.
Gameplay
Avatar Unit
New Mystery of the Emblem is the first Fire Emblem title to feature the inclusion of an Avatar unit as a playable character. Players can customize the unit, named Kris by default, including their appearance, class and growth rates. New prologue and sidequest chapters unique to the remake heavily feature Kris and also offer opportunities to recruit previously unobtainable characters.
Changes compared to Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
- The Iote's Shield is found in Ch. 13x rather than Ch. 3.
- Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga was remade as a bonus feature in Extra Mode: Unlocked after Prologue 8 of the main campaign has been completed, the remade episodes appear with the time limits, voice acting, and convoy feature removed. The story is told using character portraits taken from Shadow Dragon and the main story chapters in New Mystery of the Emblem, with some of the dialogue and victory conditions altered and enemy reinforcements diminished.
- A number of characters who originally died can instead be recruited, such as Michalis.
- Every character that only appeared in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Fire Emblem Archanea Saga, and/or Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon returns in this installment and are playable in this version.
- Dragonstones function similar as in The Binding Blade and The Sacred Stones as the user transforms for a single attack and depletes one of its uses.
- A new system is added in which characters will get items or experience for themselves, with some things that can only be obtained in this manner, although the rate for finding either depends on the time spent in the real world.
- Base Conversations similar to Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn were added: If two units that can form conversations are in the same chapter together, 1 Friendship point can be earned with that unit. If enough points are obtained, they can have a conversation in the Battle Preparations menu before the next fight. There are 3 Base Conversations one unit can have with another unit, and on the third one, the player receives a Bond item that boosts a stat when used for 1 chapter. Also, if a character uses the Bond Drop item, the support bonus from all partners is increased to the maximum available rank and base conversations with compatible units are unlocked, except in the case of Avatar, where it only affects Marth, Ryan, Luke, Roderick and Katarina (although strangely, only conversations Katarina and Avatar 1-2 can be viewed instantly).
- Barst, Cord, and Bord can perform a Triangle Attack: Previously, it was a movement to Palla, Catria, and Est only.
- Every chapter's allowed unit limit has been increased by 1 to account for Kris.
Online Play
New Mystery of the Emblem features an online component similar in nature to Shadow Dragon, allowing players to battle each other.
Characters
- See main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
New Mystery of the Emblem features all 45 characters from Mystery of the Emblem as well as 32 new characters (33 if both genders of Kris are considered separate characters) for a total roster of 77 (or 78) playable characters.
Chapters
- See main article: List of chapters in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Classes
- See main article: List of classes in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Weapons
- See main article: List of weapons in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Items
- See main article: List of items in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Music
- See main article: List of Music in Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Legacy
New Mystery of the Emblem is somewhat of a contentious game within the Fire Emblem fanbase as it is the only title to not receive a localization since western localization began. Its lack of official release was likely due to the existing low sales of its predecessor as well as the general downtrend the franchise was experiencing in terms of sales.
Fans of the game have however praised the game for maintaining the faithfulness of the story while the new original characters were better integrated compared to its predecessor. Kris is acknowledged as the first true Avatar of the franchise, though their presence and overall changes to certain aspects to the original story to accommodate their involvement is widely debated in the fanbase. Generally Kris, both gender versions of them, perform the best in the Choose Your Legends events, though only Male Kris has ever placed in the top 100 with a highest placing of 98 in the fourth round. Katarina is the only new original character to place somewhat well
Gallery
