Fire Emblem

It will have been three years this September since Three Houses came out. Under normal circumstances, I'd say it was possible that the next game could come out later this year, but the pandemic could easily screw up such a schedule.

I predict that, if there's a new FE game in the pipeline, we'll hear about it no sooner than the latter half of this year.

I expect there'll been a Direct in early June, about when E3 would normally take place, which will focus on Three Hopes. As for when the next mainline game will be released...

• Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light: 20/04/1990
• Gaiden: 14/03/1992
• Mystery: 21/01/1994 [semi-remake]
• Genealogy: 14/05/1996
• Thracia 776: 01/09/1999
• The Binding Blade: 29/03/2002
• The Blazing Blade: 25/04/2003 (Japan), 03/11/2003 (USA), 20/02/2004 (Australia), 16/07/2004 (EU)
• The Sacred Stones: 07/10/2004 (Japan), 23/05/2005 (USA), 04/11/2005 (EU)
• Path of Radiance: 20/04/2005 (Japan), 17/10/2005 (USA), 04/11/2005 (EU), 01/12/2005 (Australia)
• Radiant Dawn: 22/02/2007 (Japan), 05/11/2007 (USA), 14/03/2008 (EU), 10/04/2008 (Australia)
• Shadow Dragon: 07/08/2008 (Japan), 05/12/2008 (EU), 16/02/2009 (USA), 26/02/2009 (Australia) [remake]
• New Mystery: 15/07/2010 [semi-remake]
• Awakening: 19/04/2012 (Japan), 04/02/2013 (USA), 19/04/2013 (EU and Australia)
• Fates: 25/06/2015 (Japan), 06/11/2015 (China), 19/02/2016 (USA), 20/05/2016 (EU and Australia), 08/09/2015 (Korea)
• TMS #FE: 26/12/2015 (Japan), 24/06/2016 (internationally) [spinoff]
• Heroes: 02/02/2017 [gacha smartphone game]
• Echoes: 20/04/2017 (Japan and China), 19/05/2017 (USA, EU, and Australia), 13/07/2017 (Korea) [remake]
• Warriors: 28/09/2017 (Japan), 20/10/2017 (internationally) [crossover spinoff]
• Three Houses: 26/07/2019
• Three Hopes: 24/06/2022

It looks like the average time between new games is about two years, and Three Hopes is a little later than established patterns would suggest. Based purely on this, I would expect that the next mainline game would come out in 2024.

That said, it's interesting to note that Echoes, Warriors, and Heroes were all released in the same year. Since they were made by different companies, this is logistically reasonable, though it does mean that 2017 as a rather crowded year. This shows it is possible that the next mainline game might come out this year, but I don't think that's likely. Koei Tecmo did the bulk of the work on Three Houses, and they did such a good job that I expect Nintendo will want them to also work on the next game, which they likely won't be starting until after Three Hopes is finished.

Moreover, Warriors and Heroes are both fanservice crossover spinoffs (even if only one of those games actually does something with the crossover angle), while Three Hopes is the direct paraquel to Three Houses; I expect Nintendo will want to give Three Hopes some time to breathe that Warriors didn't really need in the same way, which again means there won't be another game for at least another year.

Also there's a plague.

Since Nintendo's current approach is to only announce games a couple of months before release, I expect we won't be hearing anything until late next year at the earliest.

Edited by VampireBuddha on May 15th 2022 at 4:10:47 PM

How much longer until a new Nintendo console? Not that the Switch is doing badly, but with the PS 5 and X Box X out I'd figure they'd at least be discussing it. If so then I can imagine they might want a new FE as a launch title. If not, I'd personally wish for either a Binding Blade remake or a rerelease of the Tellius games on the Switch.

Edited by Aleistar on May 15th 2022 at 1:16:12 PM

I always felt the Switch was an in the same generation as the PS 5 and XBOX X, but had a head start.

Red is correct.

Nintendo also kind of just does what it will. They play a different ball game from Sony and Microsoft. The current state of supply lines would probably also make any company think more conservatively.

I could see a new FE sooner if they can reuse the Three Houses engine with some tweaks.

I actually think 3 Hopes ending might lead to a 3 Houses sequel, so that's quite possible.

Time to heroically invade Rigel!

Confronting a guy who calls himself Jedah, but I think he's more of a Sith.

I spent a few days at the Altean arena grinding up a chunk of my core forces to level 15. Since I'm getting towards the end, I decided to dispense with my usual approach and promote people before getting to level 20. Cain, Abel, Gordin, Ogma, and Nabarl are now Tier 2, and Mystery is the game that introduced the mechanic whereby promotions have fixed stat gains instead of each class having minimum values for each stat. Oh, and it looks like it's possible for Draug and Castor to promote in this game! Too bad I'm past the point where Draug is useful, and and Jeorge fill my need for snipers.

Altea Castle quickly fell. After that, "The Sablé Order" for some reason is one of the chapters that was dropped, so there's just a narrative box telling me that the Sablé Order have recently lost their mojo and fell to the Akaneia Alliance off screen, and I still don't have Est or Mercurius. It's straight on to the Fane of Raman, where we get the first instance of roofs in the series. The roof mechanic means this map plays completely differently to the corresponding one in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. On the one hand, you can't see which chambers have treasure and which have enemies, which means there is tension (unless, like me, you happen to have played the previous incarnation). However, it also means those enemies can't attack until you open the doors, which allows the player to focus on those in the open areas and position units carefully for when it is time to open doors.

Also, none of the enemy Thieves start with any any important treasure. Since enemy Thieves also don't open doors, this entire map is much more leisurely than the original version.

With Tiki in my army and the treasure in my caravan, it's off to Grust to finish off Camus.

With the way stats work in Mystery of the Emblem (where all stats, beside HP, at 20), getting your units to Level 20 isn't necessary. You'll probably get your caps from 10/20 instead of 20/20. Also, I've heard that Mystery of the Emblem arena is bad.

Also, Horseman, I think, goes back to Hunter if they dismount.

Edited by mariovsonic999 on May 19th 2022 at 12:18:45 PM

Something to think about, as ruler, does Arvis take ownership of the child hunts? Sure he's very disgusted with it, did not order it in anyway, and worked with Ishtar to undermine it, but it's still his government that sponsor them even if he is being blackmailed by Manfroy.

Arvis definitely is complicit, which is why he’s accepted everything he sacrificed coming to naught, and undermines it in secret since no one would rightfully trust the guy who set it all in motion by sacrificing his allies while aligning with the corrupt who actively engage in said hunts like Hilda.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on May 20th 2022 at 4:00:56 AM

Next stop: Fear Mountain, Disneyland. Wait...

Lewyn believed he became complaisant with the Church, although this is before you learn that Julius and Marfroy are the one really in charge, rather than Arvis just letting them do it.

Well, regardless of how Arvis feel about it, to quote Hopper from Bug's Life, "First rule of leadership. Everything is your fault."

Edited by mariovsonic999 on May 21st 2022 at 11:27:02 AM

He's definitely Victor's son, let's just say that

That’s what happens when you ally with an cult whose hobbies is hunting children. Or that the people in positions of power in his regime loved the idea of hunting down children when his son and said cult took over, like Hilda.

Edited by OmegaRadiance on May 21st 2022 at 6:42:15 AM

Fear Mountain Part 2. Because that shrine was way more involved than I remembered.

So, I’m currently doing a New Mystery playthrough with M!Kris. I previously did one with F!Kris several years ago, so I’d figure I’d sate Fire Emblem craving I’d been having and shake things up. For example, I’m actually trying to make better use of the 7th Platoon and the Whitewings this time around, and I think that Ryan, at least, will become a mainstay, while Palla and Catria are probably strong enough that I can deploy them as needed. Jury’s out on the others - I’ll probably only have space for one at most now that my army has grown significantly. Still, it’s more use than they got last time.

Anyway, I’ve also been thinking about Three Houses and Awakening a bit, and while I think I know how I’d handle another Three Houses playthrough, I’m interested in your guys’ thoughts on how to handle Awakening. Specifically, which pairings do you guys think are the best of both worlds, those being gameplay benefits and well-written supports? I should clarify that I’m going with M!Robin this time, whereas I usually choose F!Robin, and I’d prefer to pair him with someone from the first generation (and not a Robinsexual either). Also, I should note that I’m not trying to do something like maximize Galeforce distribution (I generally prefer to keep units in their starting classes) so much as get some some kids that generally perform well.

Edited by KarkatTheDalek on May 23rd 2022 at 5:37:14 AM

Personally, I think that Sumia has one of the better supports with M-Robin. Class sets don't really matter for Robin's spouse, and Sumia's stat caps are... maybe a bit of a mixed bag. She's got good Speed but a negative modifier for Strength.

Panne has good stat caps, but a lackluster support.

And, of course, there's always Tharja.

Hm, I kind of wanted to go with Sumia/Chrom...

Actually, how's Cordelia/Robin? I'd been wondering about that one.

If you want truly optimized pairings, go with Chrom Sumia, then Robin Lucina.

But honestly, you can play however you wish.

I always pair Sumia and Frederick, so what do I know?

Edited by RedHunter543 on May 23rd 2022 at 12:56:20 PM

Robin/Lucina does seem interesting, but I wanted to give Morgan a sibling...

Does anyone know if there's, like, a full set of pairings that someone's put together that mix good writing with powerful kids?

TBH, I'm pretty sure Robin Cordelia can work out, and Severa does make a cute sibling to Morgan yeah.

In the most tsundere way possible.

Cherche × Lon'qu have a great, well-written support that goes into Lon'qu's backstory and sees him come to terms with his psychological issues, and results in Gerome absolutely dominating the battlefield.

I think Virion goes well with Olivia, in large part because Inigo's father support is clearly written with Virion in mind.