Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a Japanese tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. It is the fifteenth game in the Fire Emblem series and a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden. It was released in Japan on April 20, 2017, and internationally on May 19, 2017. This game is the first Fire Emblem title to receive an official Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese translation.
Development
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was first announced during a worldwide Fire Emblem Nintendo Direct on January 18, 2017 as a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden. Shadows of Valentia marks the third remake of a previous Fire Emblem installment, the first two being Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. The Gaiden remake received a full visual overhaul with full 3D models and new animated cut scenes produced by the animation Studio Khara, and it is the first core series Fire Emblem title to feature full dialogue voice-acting. The updated character designs were created by the Japanese illustrator Hidari, previously known for his work on the Toukiden and Atelier series, as well as a variety of light novels and other media. Hidari was given significant freedom in reimagining the cast of Gaiden, as a number of characters were completely redesigned, and aside from their Gaiden gameplay portraits, a significant number never had official character art before at all.
Setting
- See also: Archanea Series
Shadows of Valentia is a retelling of Fire Emblem Gaiden, which takes place on the continent of Valentia. Within the Fire Emblem universe, it takes place in the same world as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. Chronologically, it takes place within the two years separating those titles.
New to the remake is a sixth chapter that takes place in Archanea featuring bonus story content that connects to the narrative of Fire Emblem Awakening.
Plot
- See also: Fire Emblem Gaiden
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia follows the same basic plot as Fire Emblem Gaiden, with the protagonists Alm and Celica fighting in a war that has consumed the nations of Rigel and Zofia on the continent of Valentia. Shadows of Valentia introduces new characters to the story that did not exist in Gaiden such as a new friend of Alm, Faye, and a new villain in Berkut (who replaces Seazas in Act 4), as well as a new prologue that expands on Alm and Celica's childhood relationship. Additionally, a sixth chapter is added after the end of the original Gaiden story, expanding on the lore of Valentia and connecting the game to Awakening through its revelations of the origin of Grima.
Changes compared to Fire Emblem Gaiden
- Several characters are added to the 3DS version. Those characters are:
- Faye, one of Alm's childhood friends.
- Berkut, Rudolf's nephew.
- Rinea, Berkut's fiancée.
- Fernand, a Zofian noble.
- Conrad, Celica's half-brother.
- Jarth, the leader of the mercenary band.
- The Creation, a younger form of Grima, from Awakening.
- Forneus, an evil alchemist responsible for the The Creation and the Risen.
- Witches, originally an enemy-only class in Gaiden, are expanded upon to be mindless puppets of the Duma Faithful that had their souls sacrificed to Duma. Delthea and Sonya, who are Witches when faced as enemies in Gaiden, are instead mages in these encounters. Nuibaba, an Archanist in Gaiden, is now a Witch that gave her soul to Medusa, instead.
- When Celica reaches Duma Tower's top in the Shadows of Valentia version of Act 4, Jedah banishes her companions to the catacombs leaving her alone to watch helplessly as Alm suffers.
- Slayde, an enemy boss in Act 1 of Gaiden, is the boss in Echoes' prologue chapter, and also appears in Act 4, where he is fought at the Last Bastion.
- In the Gaiden Version of Act 5, when Alm reaches the cell where Celica is being held, she asks Alm to help her out and save her and her party. In Shadows of Valentia, Celica is alone, and tries to discourage Alm from killing Duma, fearing that it would possibly lead to Rigel's people to face starvation.
- In Shadows of Valentia, Jedah actually sacrifices Celica to Duma by having the latter steal her soul, making her a mindless puppet for Duma.
- Alm finds the Valentian Falchion in a treasure chest in the treasure vault in Gaiden. In Shadows of Valentia, he finds it in Mila's petrified head.
- In Shadows of Valentia, Alm is forced to kill Celica with the Falchion, due to her becoming a mindless minion of Duma. She is then subsequently revived by Mila using the last of her powers.
Gameplay
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia retains and updates many mechanics that originated in Fire Emblem Gaiden. Among these include a navigable World Map, as well as freely explorable towns and dungeons. Such exploration takes place from a third-person behind-the-back perspective, and when an enemy is encountered during exploration, the game transitions to a traditional Fire Emblem tactical battle. If the player can preemptively strike the enemy icon in the dungeon to start the battle, the enemy units will begin the fight with a slight reduction to their HP and their starting positions will be closer to the enemy. Echoes also retains the unique battle system used in Gaiden, making map battles much different from other Fire Emblem titles.
Changes compared to Fire Emblem Gaiden
- Shadows of Valentia is compatible with amiibo figures.
- The Alm and Celica amiibo unlock special dungeons respectively called Duma's Ordeal and Mila's Ordeal. These amiibo also allow players to save the current versions of their Alm and Celica units, which can be summoned later as illusory units.
- The Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U line of Fire Emblem amiibo will summon illusory copies of those characters.
- All other currently available amiibo will summon an additional monster in battle.
- Casual Mode has been added as a feature for Shadows of Valentia.
- A new prologue is included which shows the past of Alm and Celica.
- A new, limited-use item called Mila's Turnwheel allows the player to rewind the events of a battle, allowing the player to correct mistakes. It marks the first time that a turn rewinding mechanic appears in the series.
- Dungeons are now explorable in a 3D environment.
- Towns and villages are now explorable in the manner of a visual novel.
- The fatigue system from Thracia 776 is reintroduced, but penalties are stat reductions instead of temporary incapacity. This feature only applies in dungeons.
- Support conversations have been added to Shadows of Valentia and take place on the battlefield like in the GBA Fire Emblem titles.
- The Forge mechanic has been added along with Silver and Gold Marks in order to forge weapons.
- Weapons have innate skills that can be learned. However, all skills can only be used on the weapon it is learned from. Skills take the form of persistent passive abilities or direct ability commands.
- In Act 5, Celica's party does not lose health while Alm explores the Duma Temple catacombs, unlike the Gaiden version.
- A bonus sixth chapter has been added, taking place after the endgame of Gaiden.
- Special DLC maps, items, and features are added to the game, consisting of:
- 5 Goddess's Gift items
- Two sets of Maps that give endless Items, Silver Marks, and Experience
- Access to overclasses.
- 4 Prelude stories about the Deliverance
- Two maps in collaboration with Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) along with the ability to recruit Emma, Shade, Yuzu, and Randal
Characters
- See main article: List of characters in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Shadows of Valentia features 34 playable characters in the default roster. Sonya and Deen both cannot be recruited in the same playthrough, thus the player will always have at most 33 playable characters in a single playthrough. Five additional characters were added through DLC, bringing the total playable roster to 39 characters.
While not directly playable, the spirits of Marth, Roy, Ike, male Robin, Lucina, and both genders of Corrin are summonable through amiibo support with Shadows of Valentia.
Chapters
- See main article: List of chapters in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Classes
- See main article: List of classes in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Weapons
- See main article: List of weapons in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Items
- See main article: List of items in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Collector's Editions
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was released alongside two special editions with bonus items in Japan: the Limited Edition, and Valentia Complete. Additionally, the Japanese My Nintendo Store offered the full set of bonus items from the Valentia Complete edition without a game copy. Separate North American and European Limited Editions were also sold, with the contents of the packages being identical save for the European Limited Edition also including the Alm and Celica amiibo figures.
Japan Limited Edition
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- A Fire Emblem 0 limited card of Alm with a drawn illustration
- Download serial to get an extra DLC set that will be available as soon as it is published
- Sound Selection Shadows of Valentia - A CD that contains music from both Gaiden in its original Famicom format and the arranged versions in Shadows of Valentia
Japan Valentia Complete
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- A Fire Emblem 0 limited card of Alm with a drawn illustration
- A Fire Emblem 0 limited card of Celica with a drawn illustration and hologram
- Download serial to get an extra DLC set that will be available as soon as it is published
- Sound Selection Shadows of Valentia
- Valentia Artbook
- Fire Emblem HD Movie Collection Blu-Ray - A collection of HD movies used in the games from Radiant Dawn, Awakening, Fates and Shadows of Valentia (90 minutes in length).
North America and Australia Limited Edition
North America Limited Edition
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Sound Selection Shadows of Valentia
- Valentia Artbook
- Overworld sprite pin set of Alm, Celica, and Marth
Europe Limited Edition
Europe Limited Edition
- Copy of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Sound Selection Shadows of Valentia
- Valentia Artbook
- Overworld sprite pin set of Alm, Celica, and Marth
- Alm and Celica amiibo
Legacy
Shadows of Valentia is the final game of the 3DS era of Fire Emblem games. While it is the lowest selling title of the three, it still sold over 1 million copies by the end of 2022, making it the 59th best selling title on the 3DS. Fans and critics have praised the game for its faithfulness to the original game while expanding on its narrative in a more dramatic fashion.
As a result of the remake, the Valentian characters experienced a sudden surge in popularity though mainly towards the leads Celica and Alm. In the very first Choose Your Legends, Celica placed 118th. Due to the release of Shadows of Valentia that year, Celica had one of the largest spikes in the history of the event, shooting straight to the winner's circle the following year for Round 2 as the second most popular character eligible for the event and the highest ranked female. Interestingly, during the development of Fire Emblem Warriors, Celica was developed for the game as a bonus character without the developers knowing of the remake. When they were informed, they updated Celica to use her new design. Celica was chosen as the character to represent Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia as an Emblem for Fire Emblem Engage.
Alm experienced a similar surge in popularity due to Shadows of Valentia, having placed 145th in the first Choose Your Legends event before rocketing in ranking similarly to Celica as a result of the remake, placing 9th overall in the second round (5th among the men), and then finally placing 1st overall in the third round.
Unfortunately, most of the Shadows of Valentia cast has had much poorer results with the highest achieved ranking in the second round were left to Kliff reaching 33rd overall and Delthea reaching 36th overall before both plummeted out of the top 100 by Rounds 3 and 4 respectively. The sole character to maintain a top 100 ranking in all rounds of eligibility has been Berkut, who has achieved a 60th placing in the second round before dropping to his lowest as 95th in Round 3. Berkut is currently the most popular, non-winning Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia exclusive character with his best showing placing him at 30th overall in the tenth round.
Voice Cast
See: List of Voice Actors in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Trivia
- Until Fire Emblem: Three Houses became the first mainline entry in the franchise to receive a simultaneous worldwide release, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia had the shortest period of time between the release dates of the Japanese version and the international versions, with only a 29-day difference in time.
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the first main series Fire Emblem game to feature full voice-acting for in-game dialogue, and the second in the entire franchise, preceded by the crossover title Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. It is also the first to have full English voice acting in the Western release, as TMS#FE was Japanese audio and subtitles-only.
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is the first Fire Emblem game to be officially released in Chinese-speaking territories, specifically, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Similar to Tokyo Mirage Sessions' Western release, the Chinese release keeps the Japanese voice track, but with text translated into Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
- Despite the silhouettes of wyverns flying through the sky on the cover, none appear in gameplay.
- Alm was made left-handed in Shadows of Valentia in part to better mirror the brand he shares with Celica on her right hand, but also because the development team decided on using left-handed battle animations to differentiate him.
- This is the last Fire Emblem game to be released in the Heisei Era of Japan.
Gallery
