News – Fire Emblem Gaiden To Be Remade As Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Considering that Awakening could well have been the last, the Fire Emblem series has recently only gone from strength to strength. So much so that recently Nintendo even held a Nintendo Direct dedicated entirely to the strategy series. One which not only saw the announcement of the series’ debut on smartphones, but also the return of one the very first entries in this classic retro franchise.
This comes in the form of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. A game which Nintendo describes a reimagining of the Japanese exclusive Famicom title Fire Emblem Gaiden. Only the second game in the 15 game strong series. You can check out the trailer for the game below.
As can be seen from this trailer which details the gameplay and the backstory, Nintendo certainly aren’t shying away from the comparisons to Fire Emblem Gaiden. If anything they are embracing the series’ lineage. As such, Fire Emblem Echoes will feature Gaiden’s cast of characters and setting, however much of the world and the gameplay has been rebuild from the ground up using Gaiden as its basis.
On top of this, the game will also feature full voice acting, and anime cutscenes that will help tell the tale of Valentia. There will even be a dual pack Amiibo release featuring both of Fire Emblem Echoes and Gaiden’s lead characters, Alm and Celica.
Back in the 80s Gaiden was famous for both helping to set the tone for future Fire Emblem titles, and for having some unique gameplay elements. These included unique twists on conventional strategy game mechanics, alongside exploration and dungeon crawling elements. All of which came together to make it one of the strongest and most unique entries in the Fire Emblem series.
As such it’s great to not only see Gaiden being given a new lease of life, but also to see it being made accessible to many fans who may have never even heard of it. Let alone ever played it. Thankfully for those dying to jump into another of Fire Emblem’s lost retro classics, there’s not long to wait, as Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia launches globally on Nintendo 3DS on May 19 2017.
Oh, and for anyone looking to learn more about some more of Fire Emblem’s lost retro classics, make sure to check out our look at the 16-bit entries in the Fire Emblem series.