If someone had told me that Nintendo and Intelligent Systems would shadow-drop a random Fire Emblem mobile game on a Wednesday evening, I probably wouldn’t have believed it. And yet, here we go, and Fire Emblem Shadows is among us. Literally.
Revealed via Nintendo and a launch trailer, Fire Emblem Shadows dares to ask: What if you gave all the Fire Emblem Lords fursonas and wrapped it up neatly into a game that’s one half social deduction and the other half real-time strategy? Add in a sprinkling of role-playing, and that seems to make up the newest Fire Emblem mobile game.
You and two other players make your way through two rounds of a labyrinth, working together as disciples of light to conquer foes and earn rewards. However, there’s a catch: One of you is a traitor who isn’t a disciple of light at all, but a disciple of shadow. In the first round, the three players fight together. In the second round, the two players must fight against the more powerful traitor. After the first round, players have 10 seconds to vote on who they believe the disciple of shadow is. If they guess correctly, they get a boost in the final battle. If they guess wrong, the battle becomes more challenging.
On paper, it feels very much like Fire Emblem’s take on Among Us, but with the added twist of having real-time combat. It’s not the first Fire Emblem mobile game, either. Fire Emblem Heroes continues to add new characters and stories every month, but it’s still strange that the franchise has pivoted from its more strategic, near-chess-like gameplay. Sure, they did it with the Warriors titles, but that was at least open about being a spin-off.
Either way, I doubt Fire Emblem Shadows’ real-time combat will be enough to turn off hardcore fans of the franchise. Would I have expected a mobile spin-off to go down this route? Is it as intriguing as Fortune’s Weave looks to be? Not really, but I can’t deny that I’m a little curious about this new take from Intelligent Systems.
Fire Emblem Shadows is now available for free download on iOS and Android, with optional in-game purchases, including a seasonal pass.
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