For its first brand mobile secret plan , Nintendo blend in with the most obvious choice : Super Mario Run , a smartly streamlined takeon the classic formula — and gratefully one with a undivided price tag . Nintendo ’s next smartphone and tablet game is quite dissimilar in nearly every respect , however , as it ’s based on a less prominent franchise , proffer a more complex and history - driven experience , and embrace the platform ’s inclination for liberal - to - play gaming .
It ’s Fire Emblem Heroes , and it ’s available now on bothiOSandAndroid . The Fire Emblem series has flourish on Nintendo ’s own platform for more than 25 yr now , and is best known for its brilliantly captivating and seriouslychallengingquests on portable organisation — like last year ’s acclaimed Fire Emblem Fates for Nintendo 3DS . We did n’t even get a Fire Emblem game in the States until 2003 , but since that clock time , the tactical role - playing franchise has institute a place in the hearts of millions of Nintendo fans .
You ’re summoned to help these torpedo die hard . Are you up to the challenge ?
But how does a brainy and full - bodied strategic war secret plan hold up on Mobile River with flowing gameplay and controls , not to mention balancing for a gratis - to - fun feeler ? Here ’s our early take establish on the initial hours of the secret plan .
It’s Fire Emblem lite
Fire Emblem ’s turn - based blueprint already makes signified for Mobile River , as you manoeuver your heroes around the power system - covered battlefield , tone-beginning or help , and seek to endure the next wafture of opposing actions . However , Heroes makes some remarkable pinch to the design to keep thing even more realizable on smartphones . The most obvious of those comes with the size of the grid , as each battlefield is limited to the bounds of your screen , and you ’ll control only four soldiers at a time . That hold on the skirmishes small , which alike stay fresh them quick .
The touch controls likewise help to keep conflict unforesightful and snappy , as there ’s no complex maneuvering or fuck up menu sailing to care about . When you tap and hold a unit , you ’ll see blue squares ( your movement reach ) and red squares ( the farthest you could assault after moving)—and what ’s handy is that you could just drag in and drop your unit of measurement to any illuminated square and watch over the action mechanism unfold . Enough of the combat is automated to save hassle without taking scheme and choice out of the matter .
Simplified but not headless , the battles still take planning and careful matchups .
In large part , Fire Emblem seems to follow the moulding ofFinal Fantasy : Record Keeper , another mobile mash - up of several different console table role - play game — and developer DeNA had a hand in both entry , as well . In myFreemium Field Test objet d’art on Record Keeper , I wonder aloud if multitude really played Final Fantasy for the rote combat and nothing else ; I for certain do n’t . Fire Emblem Heroes likewise makes battle its primary direction , but not only is the armed combat a number richer , but there ’s also more surrounding it here than in Final Fantasy : Record Keeper .
Here , the main draw are the story missions , which introduce new characters and integrate in old ones from the elder console table entree . You do n’t really call for any casualness with them : new and old heroes are enlace and all pass on beautiful grapheme prowess and interpreter acting . Each new chapter introduces a dissimilar world in the Fire Emblem universe of discourse and new threats to aspect , which in turn of events unlocks more and more missions that can be played and replayed , as well as admission to other bid mode .
Fire Emblem Heroes seems designed to well reward those player who will play back mission prison term and again , especially on higher difficulty scene , as you ’ll pull in extra items and currency , as well as the all - powerful orbs that have you unlock more and more heroes . You ’ll have to grind out these benefits through potentially monotonous stretches of fight … or you could pump in some money to speed up the process . In other words , it ’s a freemium game .
Yep, it’s totally freemium
Summoning giant , glowing , magical swords ? Yeah , that ’s coolheaded .
Surprise ! Nintendo ’s unfortunately maligned move to rouse player a exchange premium Leontyne Price for a premium game looks like a one - time deal with Super Mario Run , as Fire Emblem Heroes habituate a very typical gratis - to - play model through and through . For series sports fan , the most likable part of the game will sure be unlocking access to classic heroes from preceding entries , and doing so postulate a hoard of orb .
Orbs are reach out pretty oftentimes early on , to be fair : you ’ll get a nice mass of 15 when you start play , another one each prison term you finish a story mission , and others grant day by day during this initial launch flow . You ’ll need five orbs to summon a new hero , but the choice is random , as are the hero ’s attribute — there ’s no guarantee that you ’ll yield Marth or Lucina , or any of your other favorites . And if you do n’t bed these heroes , then you still might be bummed if you get a weaker hero , or one that is very exchangeable to your other units .
Nintendo does cut you some quagmire on pricing if you desire to buy in volume , as you may snag multiple heroes on the same draw and drop few eyeball with sequential yields . Still , if you ’re chasing certain heroes , the real money monetary value for orbs is just staggering : it ranges from $ 2 for 3 orb up to $ 75 for 140 orbs , which imply summon a random submarine sandwich would cost around $ 3 apiece if you ’re not buy the super - costly value bundle .
you’re able to rally in bulk to salvage on orbs , which are jolly pricey .
Fire Emblem Heroes has a dyad other limiting systems in play , as well , although they are n’t too punitory . For instance , there ’s a stamina m that can restrict how much you play , but it give you 50 stamina period , which freshen at a rate of five minutes apiece … and early tale missions only utilize up a brace of points . Some of the special missions take up a pot more points ( like the Virion : Elite Archer map on Hard , which use 10 points per attempt ) , but it ’s definitely possible to wager for a respectable hour or two here without drain your stamina .
likewise , you ’re given just three daily Dueling Swords , which are used as payment to take part in musician - vs - player battles against A.I. version of real - biography antagonist . If you tap out of those before the solar day ’s up , you’re able to spend an orb to refill your breed . All assure , it seems like you’re able to get a muckle of daily play from Fire Emblem Heroes without spend a dime bag , although encompassing maneuver or a desire for more and more heroes could tempt your wallet into action mechanism .
Should you play it?
Unlike early entries , there ’s no perma - demise in Heroes … so she ’ll populate to see another conflict even if she fall here .
While I worry whether Nintendo could keep the intent of the franchise intact while undergoing such a severe free - to - play shift , I ’m pretty impressed by Fire Emblem Heroes right off the bat . The tactical combat is n’t as talkative , complex , or varied as in the 3DS games , but it ’s also not dull to the point of being vapid or utterly devoid of scheme . It ’s fun , and it plays really well on a smartphone screen .
fighter is also super attractive , thanks to a mix of cartoonish units and more realistic , script - trace art , and the whole thing feels like a very premium production . comprehend a freemium model does sully the design a bit , as you could no longer arrogate that the secret plan is balanced only for skill ; the influence of money might not ruin the fun , but it sure compromise the approaching to some extent .
Still , Fire Emblem Heroes is n’t really meant as a replacement for or replacement to the main Fire Emblem games . Nintendo said early on that its mobile game would be designed to grab smartphone histrion and essay and coax them into becoming Nintendo console players , and Fire Emblem Heroes has enough of the series ’ strategical gameplay and fantasy storytelling to declare oneself a flowing taste of what to expect . With a new Nintendo 3DS secret plan out this May and a Nintendo Switch ledger entry expected next class , there ’s deal of chance to “ kick upstairs ” to a full experience on one of Nintendo ’s own devices .
But Fire Emblem Heroes does n’t solely exist as a gateway experience , and as a plot itself , Heroes does a upright job of appealing to both types of instrumentalist . hard-core series fans can poke aside at the problematic battles and gradually unlock more and more familiar characters , while newcomers get a slipperiness and streamlined combat game that ’s easy to learn , laborious on personality and polish , and on the face of it loaded with message . Its freemium techniques are familiar , so if you could stick out unaccented limitation and in - app leverage prompt , you could probably get a lot of fun out of Nintendo ’s late .
