Hey guys!
So, again, it's been a while since I last posted a blog,
especially a gaming post!
Last year, Nintendo announced that they would be releasing a
new Fire Emblem game, Fates (IF in Japan), which would have 3 different paths
you could choose from - or you could choose all 3 by purchasing all 3 paths.. I
really loved Awakening, the previous game in the series, and I've played most
of the older games in the series that have been released over here, so needless
to say I was mega excited! They also announced that they were going to release
a limited edition bundle, which I really wanted from the second I saw it on a
trailer.
Unfortunately for me, however, the UK/Europe release date
wasn't until May 20th - a couple of days ago!
So, there's three different paths you can take in the game.
Basically, you were born in the kingdom of Hoshido, but were stolen by the king
of Nohr & raised there. The first few chapters show a little bit of life in
both kingdoms, before you're asked to pick a side in chapter 6. There's
Birthright - where you side with your birth family in Hoshido, Conquest - where
you side with the family who raised you in Nohr or Revelation (which isn't out
until next month) - where you don't pick either side. Whichever side you choose
has different consequences, and each side is basically a whole different gaming
experience.
In Birthright, the kingdom of Hoshido is heavily Japanese
influence - the buildings are based on traditional Japanese ones, they chose a
lot of red & white in the colour scheme & the music is also Japanese
influenced. Nintendo recommend that you choose this path first if it is your
first Fire Emblem game, or you like to take it slow - it's a lot easier to get
gold & level people up with side quests on this version, so it's a good way
to ease yourself in.
In Conquest, the kingdom of Nohr is dark & based on
vampires - the kingdom is in darkness & quite gloomy, and the main colour
scheme is black & purples. They recommend this version for more experienced
Fire Emblem players, as there aren't as many resources in this one - you have
to spend your money wisely, as you can't just go on a ton of side missions to
get money & experience.
I was browsing Twitter around a month or so ago, and I saw
that GAME had tweeted about the limited edition bundle going up for preorder on
their site, so I immediately went to preorder mine - especially as they'd put
EXCLUSIVELY AT GAME, so I was wondering if Nintendo were going to sell a bundle
at all. I was successful, so I was really excited that I'd managed to get the
bundle - it included all 3 paths of the game on one cartridge, an artbook, a
steelbook case & a double sided poster.
A few days later, I received an email from Nintendo - as I'd
previously registered to be notified when the game wet up for preorder from
them - & I saw they were selling a similar bundle, but theirs had a double
sided commerorative coin & a free theme for the Nintendo 3DS, plus they had
the matching New 3DS coverplates! So, I had a quick discussion with my brother
& he said I should get the Nintendo one, as it was the same price as GAME
but had a couple more things included, so I preordered their bundle & the
coverplates. I then cancelled my GAME preorder, as I didn't need two bundles.
I was so excited for it to arrive, I've been avoiding
watching videos or looking at anything about it online so that I don't see
anything that'll spoil it for me, as it's been out for longer in Japan &
the USA. Finally, however, it came on Thursday (a day early!) & I was so
excited to unpack it & get playing! I really like everything in the bundle,
I have the Awakening artbook too so they'll look nice together, plus I have a
few other steelbook cases to display with the Fates one! The symbols on the
coin are the symbols for Hoshido & Nohr, which I like a lot!
The coverplates!
The Nohr/Conquest side!
The Birthright/Hoshido side!
For my first playthrough, I decided I wanted to go with
Hoshido & take the Birthright route - I want to play them all eventually,
of course, but I thought I'd do what Nintendo recommend & take this route
first. As I'm writing this blog post, I think I'm on chapter 12, so I thought
I'd give a quick first impression while I'm here.
As in Awakening, you get to customise your character - in
Awakening, it was Robin (although you can rename them), in Fates it's Corrin.
There's a few more options to customise Corrin with, which I thought was a nice
touch!
This is how I customised my Corrin/avatar!
I don't want to go into the story too much, as I don't want
to spoil it for anyone who wants to play, but I'm really enjoying the story of
Birthright so far! I like how most of the chapters have such beautiful Japanese
music & scenery, it's nice that the majority of characters on this path
have Japanese names too. There's quite a few different side quests you can
spend some gold on, so you can level grind if you need to & I'm finding it
fairly easy to level up & raise the support between characters even without
grinding! They kept the same art style as Awakening - there's sprites for much
of gameplay (and they've added feet, as many people complained about the lack
of character feet on Awakening) which I like a lot. The story is really
gripping, and I feel like I'll be onto Conquest in no time, if it keeps sucking
me in like this!
So,
there we have it - the limited edition bundle & my first impressions of
Birthright! Are you planning on getting the game at all? Which path will you
choose if you do?
Happy playing!
xo
No comments:
Post a Comment