Fire Emblem Fates is the 14th installment of the Fire Emblem series, in which the user plays as a customizable avatar torn between two kingdoms at war. Photo courtesy of Yusuke Kozaki and Intelligent Systems.
By ASHLEY LAWRENCE – Staff Writer
The role-playing game series Fire Emblem has gained its newest addition, Fire Emblem Fates, a game with an enriching plot and stunning cutscenes. Glaring flaws, however, harm its potential.
Intelligent Systems made Fire Emblem Fates appear to be an incredibly promising game when it was first announced. In this game, the player gets to choose between the role of a prince or princess who was born to the royal family of Hoshido, but raised by the kingdom of Nohr. Thrust into the middle of the war between the two lands, the player must choose which family to side with.
For the most part, Fire Emblem Fates delivered quality content. Artist Yusuke Kozaki provided gorgeous artwork to the game, and the cutscenes are breathtaking, though short. The separate routes of the game add onto the story as a whole, making it all the more compelling.
Furthermore, this was the first Fire Emblem game where the player could marry a character of the same sex, albeit only two options are provided–the player can marry only one male character, regardless of player gender, on the Nohr side, and only one female character, regardless of gender, on the Hoshido side.
The game isn’t without its faults, however. The voice acting is sometimes awkward, a couple of notable ones being lack of emotion in the voice and crying sound clips going on for too long and sounding empty.
Some of the character designs are also an issue. There are a few characters with impractical or sexualized armor–especially female characters. One character is literally wearing a bra into battle with no form of armor to cover her upper body. Granted, there are also male characters with impractical armor, but to a lesser and not as overtly sexual extent.
Also, each route of the game is sold separately. Until the player buys another route, they are forced to play only the route they bought. As a result, this game is incredibly expensive to enjoy the full experience of.
Overall, Fire Emblem Fates is an enjoyable game with a compelling story that had the potential to be so much better if it weren’t for a few very prominent issues. Regardless, this game is worth playing–though it’d probably be for the best to wait for the price to go down first.
