The latest issue of Famitsu, Japan’s premiere video game magazine, features new information about Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the upcoming remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second game in the series. The article outlines several of the characters and goes into a more gameplay details.
In addition to the previously announced leads Alm and Celica, three new characters have been revealed. Berkut is member of the Rigel imperial family leading a coup in the opposing nation of Zofia. Effie is a longtime friend of Alm. And Silque is is a girl who is saved from bandits by Alm and entrusted with Mila’s Gear, which is detailed below.
Like most recent entries in the series, Echoes will provide more flexibility in terms of difficulty than older games in the franchise. In addition to selecting Hard or Easy modes, players will be able to specify between Casual and Classic options, with the later instituting the series’ signature permadeath for characters felled in battle. A new item called Mila’s Gear has also been added; it is a limited use item that will allow players to replay a round should their actions go awry. Finally, some mechanics have been tweaked compared to other games in the series, as the impact of terrain types has been increased. For example, attacking units in a forest with physical moves results in lower accuracy. Magic attacks are unaffected, but using those now consume HP. Weapon affinities have been removed.
Character, mode, and item names in this article are based on translation of the Japanese article, so there might be some differences in the localized release. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is only a few months away. Japanese gamers can pick up the game on April 20, while North American and European fans have to wait until May 19 and 20 respectively.
Source: Siliconera