Fire Emblem Warriors

Fire Emblem Warriors (ファイアーエムブレム無双, Faiā Emuburemu Musō) is a collaboration title between Omega Force's Warriors IP and Nintendo's Fire Emblem series, making it Koei Tecmo's fourth major collaboration with a Nintendo franchise after Metroid: Other M, Pokémon Conquest and Hyrule Warriors. It was first revealed during the Nintendo Switch presentation on January 12, 2017.

Yosuke Hayashi is the producer, Kouya Usuda is director, and Masahiro Higuchi serves as supervisor on behalf of Intelligent Systems. According to Hayashi, Nintendo executives had approached him to do a Fire Emblem Warriors collaboration during the early development phases of Hyrule Warriors: Legends. At the time, Hayashi and crew were too engrossed in Zelda to immediately consider it. Shortly after Legends's completion, he asked the same team to work on the Fire Emblem project and selected the ones who are Fire Emblem fans to join development. Hayashi was pleased by the reactions the project's announcement received from developers in the company and fans around the world. He was personally surprised that this project hadn't happened before Zelda.

Unlike Zelda, Fire Emblem's strategy base was a challenge to adapt for the team. Their goal was to include Fire Emblem aesthetic and gameplay traits in a way that would satisfy Intelligent System's criticisms while showcasing their appeal to non-strategy fans. Playable characters were selected based on developer and publisher requests, and by overall popularity with series's fans. As a result, the other hurdle became distinguishing the vast number of sword-wielding characters. Key poses for attack animations eventually drew inspiration from promotional artwork and material for a character's respective title. While there were numerous setbacks, Hayashi believes that every party involved in development was just as excited as the fans for this game and hopes everyone enjoys it.

Players who order the Premium Box edition will receive a visual book, a copy of the game's soundtrack, and postcards featuring the core playable cast. The Treasure Box edition includes all the aforementioned items plus a voiced Dragonstone paperweight.

Plot
The story stars the protagonists Rowan and Lianna, the twin children of queen Yelena of Aytolis who yearns for the other sibling to take up the crown. much to their mother's exasperation. At the start of the story Darios, the prince of Gristonne, visits the twins to spar and study. During one of these visits monsters appear from strange portals and attack the castle. The twins and Darios flee the castle, forced to have to leave Yelena behind, last seen trapped behind a pile of rubble.

Rowan, Lianna, and Darios, having escaped with the Shield of Flames, decide to gather Gleamstones to implant into the Shield and defeat the invading monsters and their source, Velezark. The trio travels the continent searching for the Gleamstone-bearers, heroes from other worlds, and found them in Chrom, Ryoma, Xander, Corrin, and Marth. During the hunt for the last Gleamstone, Darios and the Shield of Flames is captured when the group is retreating from a failed siege on a Gristonne fortress.

After regrouping and gathering more heroes Rowan and Lianna then journey out to obtain Enliron and Facinna, two swords made from the fangs of a Divine Dragon that defended Aytolis from Velezark long ago, which waited for their chosen wielders atop the World Tree. After obtaining the swords before Gharnef could, the twins doubled back and assaulted the fortress again and rescued Darios. This respite is short lived as Darios, possessed by a dark force lurking in the fortress at their initial arrival, turns on the twins Marth completes the Shield of Flames with his Gleamstone. Darios steals the completed Shield of Flames and retreats to the Aytolis capital.

The twins are crushed by Darios's betrayal, but soon bounce back and return to Aytolis to take it back from Gristonne and the monsters. At Aytolis they find the possessed Darios and his father, Oskar. Oskar intends to sacrifice Yelena to revive and control Velezark the Chaos Dragon. However, the plan goes awry when Rowan and Lianna rescue Yelena before she can be sacrificed. Oskar, frustrated with his son's failure in the plan, asks him how he intends to rectify the situation in their favor. Darios reassures Oskar that he has another plan, and then impales him with his sword, offering Oskar's blood in place of Yelena's.

During their second match, Darios starts breaking free of Velezark's control, who had manipulated the prince through his desires and warping them to control him. After he was beaten, Darios pleads with Rowan and Lianna to kill him before Velezark could resurface, but they couldn't kill their friend, allowing Velezark to soon after reform without further interruption. With the reformation of Velezark's body, Darios is released of Velezark's control, though is swiftly impaled by one of Velezark's "swords". He manages to return the Shield of Flames to the twins with his last ounce of strength before falling to his death in a chasm that Velezark's formation created, then Velezark left. The Aytolisian army then hunted Velezark to the World Tree in an attempt to take down the last remnant of the Divine Dragon. However, when the Aytolisian army fought their way through his forces, Velezark teleported everyone into an Outrealm Portal.

After fighting through his army a second time, the Aytolisian army fought Velezark directly. As the dark dragon took more and more damage, the distortions he created were returning to normal, which would soon mean that all the heroes Rowan and Lianna have met and befriended on their quest would soon return to their homeworlds, which soon comes to pass after Velezark is slain by the heroes of the Aytolisian army.

At the end, Rowan and Lianna return home heroes, with the both of them soon becoming crowned royalty.

Combat
As a part of Koei Tecmo's larger Warriors franchise, Fire Emblem Warriors is a hack-and-slash action game in which the player fights in battlefields populated with hundreds of enemies. The player can execute combos to cut through enemies while working toward completing a series of stage objectives. Each playable character also has a unique Warrior Special attack (called a Musou attack in other Warriors titles) that can be executed when the special attack gauge is filled.

A special stun gauge appears for enemy officers, in addition to their health gauge. When the stun gauge is depleted, the player character can unleash a critical strike, which is accompanied by a flourish similar to the critical attack flourish in titles like Fire Emblem Awakening. Players can switch between control of multiple playable characters on a battlefield, and can control up to a maximum of four characters in a given battle. Any player character not under the player's direct control will act as an AI character and can be given directions on the map screen.

Pairing
The game also features a pair-up mechanic inspired by the pairing mechanic seen in Awakening and Fates. When approaching another playable character on the battlefield, the player has the option to pair up with that character. This action will remove the second playable character from the battlefield, but will boost the stats of the character under the player's control. When paired-up, characters can perform a dual special attack. The player can also ask the other unit to attack the enemies, or this unit can automatically shield the player from taking a hit, with a gauge system that seems similar to the paired-up defense mechanic featured in Fates. The player may also swap back and forth between control of each unit in the pair. Additionally, the player may pair a playable unit with an allied unit that is not controllable. This allied NPC unit becomes a Vanguard and will aid the defense of the playable unit, but cannot be controlled directly.

Weapon Triangle
The weapon triangle is featured in Fire Emblem Warriors. Characters that face off against units using an opposing weapon type will gain a slight advantage or receive a penalty based on what weapons are employed. Outside of the swords, axes, and lances in the triangle, the game also features units that use bows, tomes, and dragonstones. Certain characters can also use staves as a secondary ability to heal allies.

Awakening
After filling the Awakening Gauge, the player character can trigger Awakening Mode. In this state, the character receives a temporary parameter boost, the weapon triangle weaknesses are nullified, as well as making sure all have a weapon weakness to the current character, as well as making them unable to be interrupted while moving or while attacking. Getting high enough kills while in Awakening Mode gives the player bonuses that will perk up the Awakening Gauge when achieved, with the bonuses being for obtained Gold, Experience Points, the quality and attribute of dropped weapons, as well as the rate of drops.

When the gauge depletes completely, Awakening Mode will end, which will immediately trigger a Special called an Awakening Special. It is not possible to switch control to another character while Awakening is active. The character Tiki has unique gameplay revolving around Awakening Mode, as she will turn into her true dragon form and her moveset will completely change for the duration. In addition, Tiki's Strong I attack has the bonus of transferring her Special Meter to her Awakening Gauge, with the amount of her filled Special Meter bar(s) determining just how much of the Awakening Gauge is filled.

Leveling Up
When the player character levels up, the action pauses to display a Fire Emblem-style Level Up screen. This can be toggled off in the menu if players don't wish the action to be interrupted. When a character levels up, they receive a boost to their HP and other statistics. A character does not have to be under the player's direct control to earn experience or level up.

At the end of battle, the character declared MVP will receive an extra experience point boost.

The stat system from Fire Emblem is retained as well but tweaked and adapted to fit Warriors gameplay. For example, Luck now governs all chance-based skills such as Sol and Luna, while Speed now affects how long a character can have Awakening Mode active.

Technique and Skill Progression
New attacks, skills, and defensive parameters for characters can be unlocked on each character's Crest skill tree. Unlocking a node on the skill tree requires specific materials that can be farmed in battle. To access a character's full skill tree, they must be promoted to a new class. Characters that are at least Level 15 of their base class can promote through the use of a Master Seal.

Weapons and Forging
A weapon forging system appears in Fire Emblem Warriors. If a weapon has an empty skill slot, the player can upgrade it by transferring an attribute from another weapon to it in exchange for the destruction of the weapon from which the attribute is transferred. Attributes can also be removed from weapons to make space for other attributes. However, the number of slots on a give weapon varies, and some weapons have no slots at all. Attributes that allow for extra damage against specific enemy types (ex: Dracoslayer) can be transferred between weapons, but weapons that receive these attributes also suffer a penalty to their normal attack strength.

Unique weapons such as the Falchion and Yato can be upgraded, but they cannot be used as fodder for forging. Such weapons are also bound to specific characters and cannot be used by anyone else.

Unique weapons with the True Power and Divine Favor weapon attributes can ignore the reduced Might penalty once these attributes become active after creating their respective Crests and performing 10,000 kills.

Supports
A support system is also included in the game. As player characters fight in battle together, their bonds will grow. Characters can engage in bond conversations similar to the support conversations seen in the primary Fire Emblem series titles. However, not only are they largely platonic in nature, only certain characters have bond conversations, which can be noted in the Support Levels as a "+" to the Rank A Supports.

Permadeath
The permadeath mechanic is represented in the game's Classic Mode. Characters lost during the course of the story do not die, but as with story-important characters in traditional Fire Emblem titles, they sustain injuries that prevent them from rejoining the battle. It is possible to revive a character within the camp's temple. There also exists a Casual Mode that turns permadeath off. If a player starts Story Mode in Classic, it is possible to switch to Casual, and any lost units will be returned to the active roster. It is not possible to switch from Casual Mode back to Classic. Losing a character in Story Mode prevents the player from using that character in other modes.

amiibo
The game, like Hyrule Warriors, has compatibility with amiibo. By scanning an amiibo, the player will receive a random weapon or amount of gold, and up to five amiibo can be scanned each day. Two new amiibo released in conjunction with the game based on Chrom and the younger version of Tiki unlock unique weapons. Using the Chrom and Tiki amiibos for the first time after the characters are unlocked in game will grant the player Chrom's Training Sword and Tiki's Tear.

Story Mode
The main campaign of the game, which covers twenty-two chapters. Every chapter after the first contains two of Anna's Mementos, special materials that when all 20 pieces of one variety is collected to make an Illustration, they unlock a new battle within a History Mode map it is depicting. Even so, the second wave of Story Mode Anna's Mementos can only be obtained after clearing Story Mode. These Mementos can also be only obtained in either the Hard or Lunatic difficulties. Additionally only one Memento can be collected for the duration of the skirmish.

History Mode
A game mode which recreates famous chapters from the Fire Emblem series. In a similar manner to Hyrule Warriors' Adventure Mode, these stages have different challenges and restrictions. Each battle is marked by a enemy sprite on the map, with a level number attached, warning how strong the foes will be. Battles in this mode are ranked, with S being the highest and sometimes granting unique rewards for achieving said rank. Speaking of rewards, these maps contain more of Anna's Mementos, special weapon skills, and 3 hidden characters. Five maps are included in the vanilla title, with these maps being unlocked as the player progresses through Story Mode. With DLC, there is a total of 15 different History Mode maps, with the sixth one being part of a free update.

The remaining 9 Maps are reserved for the 3 DLC Packs for Fates, Shadow Dragon, and Awakening.

Convoy
A menu where players can manage their weapons, items, costumes, and support levels. This screen can be accessed in the battle preparation screen.

Camp
This is where Crests are forged, weapons are strengthened or sold, temporary boosts are purchased from a temple, and bonus experience points can be purchased. This mode can only be accessed outside of any individual battle.

Extras
Badges (replacing the medals achievement system from Hyrule Warriors) can be found here. Unlocked music tracks, audio clips, and illustrations are also found here. Previous Support conversations can be accessed here as well. Amiibos are scanned in this mode for their rewards.

Characters
See Main Article Heroes

The title mostly features characters from Shadow Dragon, Awakening, and Fates, who are primarily important to the game's main storyline.

Fire Emblem: Warriors

 * Rowan
 * Lianna
 * Anna
 * Darios (NPC)
 * Yelena (NPC)
 * Oskar (NPC)
 * Velezark (NPC Final Boss)

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon

 * Marth
 * Caeda
 * Tiki
 * Navarre (DLC)
 * Minerva (DLC)
 * Linde (DLC)
 * Gharnef (NPC)

Fire Emblem: Awakening

 * Chrom
 * Lissa
 * Frederick
 * Robin (Male) & [[Robin (Female)
 * Lucina
 * Cordelia
 * Owain (DLC)
 * Tharja (DLC)
 * Olivia (DLC)
 * Validar (NPC)

Fire Emblem: Fates

 * Corrin (Female) & Corrin (Male)
 * Ryoma
 * Xander
 * Hinoka
 * Camilla
 * Takumi
 * Leo
 * Elise
 * Sakura
 * Azura (DLC)
 * Oboro (DLC)
 * Niles (DLC)
 * Iago (NPC)

Other

 * Celica from Fire Emblem Gaiden & remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
 * Lyndis from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Badges
See Main Article Badges

Badges are similar to the medals of Hyrule Warriors, serving as an internal achievement tracker for the game.

Trivia

 * Koei Tecmo began development of Fire Emblem Warriors without knowledge of both Fire Emblem Heroes and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadow of Valentia, which were both in development at the same time. When they presented their original concepts for the siblings Rowan and Lianna to Nintendo, they learned that the designs were coincidentally very similar to the sibling protagonists of Heroes, Alfonse and Sharena. As a result, both Rowan and Lianna had their designs adjusted to differentiate them.
 * Similarly, there is a History Mode map in the game based on Fire Emblem Gaiden rather than its remake due to the fact that the development team was not initially aware that Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was in development, all the while Celica was planned for inclusion in the game before the development team learned of the existence of Echoes. This allowed Celica to gain her outfits from her remake, as well as her incumbent voice actor.
 * Celica was shown with the Archanean Falchion, a weapon she cannot use in any game, in her prerendered cutscenes in Warriors. It is unknown if this error is a result of or has any connection to Celica's somewhat secret development during the making of the game.
 * Fire Emblem Warriors is the first Fire Emblem or related game, including Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE and TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, to have neither lance-using cavalry units or playable Knights.
 * Despite all enemy Cavaliers and Paladins using swords due to reusing Xander's moveset, their map sprites, taken from Awakening, still depict them brandishing Lances.
 * Fire Emblem Warriors is the first Fire Emblem spin-off and crossover to have full English voice acting, as Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE only had Japanese voice acting with English subtitles.
 * During livestreamed demonstrations of the game at E3 2017, a game mode dubbed "Coliseum Mode" was shown off. In it, the player took on a series of hero characters in addition to standard soldiers, but no such Coliseum Mode was included in the game at release. History Mode does, however, include challenges similar in nature to what this mode was supposed to provide in the form of Arena battles. Whether Coliseum Mode was removed early on as a separate mode and incorporated into History Mode or simply was misrepresented/misinterpreted as a mode separate from the then-unannounced History Mode is unclear.
 * Chrom was the first character made in the game.
 * According to a Switch news article, Fire Emblem Warriors was the thirteenth most played game on Nintendo Switch in 2017 in North America.