Fire Emblem Warriors[a] is a hack and slash action role-playing game developed by Omega Force and Team Ninja, and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and Nintendo internationally for the Nintendo Switch and New Nintendo 3DS. The game was released in Japan in September 2017, and worldwide the following month. The game is a collaboration between Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors franchise and Nintendo and Intelligent Systems's Fire Emblem series.

Fire Emblem Warriors
Icon artwork featuring several characters from the game
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Hiroya Usuda
Producer(s)Yosuke Hayashi
Designer(s)Makoto Ishizuka
Artist(s)Yuta Matsunaga
Writer(s)
  • Yuki Ikeno
  • Ryohei Hayashi
  • Mari Okamoto
  • Masahiro Kato
Composer(s)
  • Yosuke Kinoshita
  • Kosuke Mizukami
  • Shinichiro Nakamura
Series
Platform(s)
Release
  • JP: September 28, 2017
  • WW: October 20, 2017
Genre(s)Hack and slash, action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

The game received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the combination of Fire Emblem and Dynasty Warriors gameplay and drawing favorable comparisons to Hyrule Warriors, originally released in 2014 for the Wii U.

A successor, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, was released for Nintendo Switch on June 24, 2022.[1]

Gameplay

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Fire Emblem Warriors is a hack-and-slash action role-playing game similar to the Dynasty Warriors series in which players take the role of Rowan and Lianna, and characters from several Fire Emblem games. Games represented in Warriors include the Fire Emblem games Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Gaiden, The Blazing Blade, Awakening, and Fates. The player defeats enemies with any character, accomplishing specific goals to beat maps. In addition to hack-and-slash combat, the game includes the ability to give tactical commands to units and the Weapon Triangle, which originated from the Fire Emblem series.

Weapons in the game include axes, lances, swords, bows, tomes, and dragonstones. When characters assist, heal, or fight alongside each other in battle, their bond strengthens. Like in Fire Emblem games, if two characters' bond increases enough, a support conversation will be unlocked. The game will also utilize all existing and future Fire Emblem Amiibo figurines, which give weapons related to the character represented by the Amiibo that is used.[2]

Plot

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While the royal twins of Aytolis, Rowan and Lianna spar with their friend Prince Darios of Gristonne, the kingdom is suddenly attacked by monsters. The three are separated from the twins' mother, Aytolis's Queen Yelena, during the attack, who gives them the Shield of Flames before being captured. The group learns that Darios' father Oskar is seeking to revive the evil Chaos Dragon Velezark, and that they must power up the Shield of Flames with Gleamstones created from the power of heroes from other worlds to prevent Velezark's resurrection.

Rowan and Lianna travel across Aytolis, rallying support from heroes from the otherworldly nations of Ylisse, Hoshido, Nohr, and Altea. During an attack on a Gristonne fortress, Velezark successfully possesses Darios, who steals the Shield of Flames just after it is complete. Rowan and Lianna pursue him to Gristonne, where they discover Yelena has been captured to be used as a sacrifice to revive Velezark. Rowan and Lianna successfully rescue their mother, leading to Darios sacrificing Oskar to complete the ritual to revive Velezark. Now freed from the possession, Darios returns the Shield of Flames to the group before falling to his death. Rowan, Lianna, and the other heroes then battle Velezark and finally slay him. With Velezark slain, the other heroes return to their home worlds and Queen Yelena crowns the twins as rulers of Aytolis.

Development and release

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Promotion at Gamescom 2017

Fire Emblem Warriors was developed by the same team as Hyrule Warriors, a collaboration between the Dynasty Warriors series and The Legend of Zelda.[3] The game was co-developed by Koei Tecmo studios Omega Force and Team Ninja and Fire Emblem developers Intelligent Systems.[3][4] Koei Tecmo first proposed the project to Nintendo, who were more than willing to collaborate, making the game a title for their in-development Nintendo Switch home console.[4] The idea of the game came during the development of Hyrule Warriors Legends, as the touchscreen controls bore similarities to those of the Fire Emblem series.[2]

The game was announced in January 2017 as part of a Nintendo Direct broadcast dedicated to the Fire Emblem series,[3] although it had already been in development for around two years before this time.[2] It was released in Japan on September 28, 2017, and released in North America, Europe, and Australia on October 20, 2017.[5]

Downloadable content

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Three packs of paid additional content were announced before the game's release.[6] Each pack added three new playable characters, new support conversations, and three new maps for History mode, in addition to new weapons, costumes, and other content.[7] Each of the DLC on a different Fire Emblem game: Fates, Shadow Dragon, and Awakening respectively. If all three packs were bought together in the season pass, an additional costume was unlocked.

Reception

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Fire Emblem Warriors received mixed reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic, with the Nintendo Switch version holding a score of 74/100 based on 72 critic reviews and the New Nintendo 3DS version receiving a score of 69/100 based on 12 reviews.[8][9] The game received praise for bringing a more nuanced, textured experience to the musou genre,[16] but drew criticism for its shallow take on traditional Fire Emblem mechanics and roster choice.[17]

The Nintendo Switch version sold 41,491 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, while the New Nintendo 3DS version sold 18,357 copies.[18] In April 2018, Koei Tecmo revealed that the game sold 1 million copies worldwide.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Known in Japan as Fire Emblem Musou (ファイアーエムブレム無双)

References

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  1. ^ Nibellion (2022-02-09). "Fire Emblem Warriors - Three Hopes launches June 24". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  2. ^ a b c Bowling, Steve (27 June 2017). "Feature: We Quiz the Fire Emblem Warriors Developers On Characters, Game Design and More". Nintendo Life. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Matulef, Jeffrey (2017-01-18). "Fire Emblem Warriors is slated for autumn on Switch and New 3DS". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-18.
  4. ^ a b "ファイアーエムブレム無双". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 1487. Enterbrain. 2017-06-01. pp. 14–15.
  5. ^ Nintendo of America (Aug 28, 2017). "#FireEmblemWarriors Special Edition includes 3 CDs, a dual-sided poster & 25 character art cards! Available Oct. 20th for #NintendoSwitch". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2 September 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  6. ^ Kevin Knezevic (September 25, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors DLC Announced, Adds New Characters And Weapons". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  7. ^ Lite_Agent (March 29, 2018). "Fire Emblem Warriors: all you need to know about DLC (contents, schedule, pricing, more)". Perfectly Nintendo. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Fire Emblem Warriors for 3DS Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Fire Emblem Warriors for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Chris Carter (October 21, 2017). "Review: Fire Emblem Warriors". Destructoid. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  11. ^ Brian (September 19, 2017). "Famitsu review scores (9/19/17) – Fire Emblem Warriors". Nintendo Everything. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  12. ^ Jeremy Winslow (October 18, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors Review". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  13. ^ Meghan Sullivan (October 24, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors Review". IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Janine Hawkins (November 20, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors review". Vox Media. Archived from the original on November 28, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  15. ^ Gwaltney, Javy (Oct 23, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors Review - Enjoyable Mindless Thrills". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 24, 2017. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  16. ^ Simon Parkin (October 18, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors review". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  17. ^ Alexandra, Heather (October 23, 2017). "Fire Emblem Warriors: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  18. ^ Romano, Sal (October 4, 2017). "Media Create Sales: 9/25/17 – 10/1/17". Gematsu. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  19. ^ Pramath (Apr 26, 2018). "Fire Emblem Warriors Hits 1 Million Units Sold Worldwide". GamingBolt. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
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