Fire Emblem Heroes (Android/iOS)

[Glen-i]

I just heard the title theme for this game. It sounds like Vic Reeves singing the FE theme for Shooting Stars!

 

 

Hilarious! This game now has a way to entertain me.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Glen-i

[Ike]

I just heard the title theme for this game. It sounds like Vic Reeves singing the FE theme for Shooting Stars!

 

 

Hilarious! This game now has a way to entertain me.

 

Boy, they really forced those lyrics in to the song.

[Jonnas]

So, after playing this for a few days, I have some general impressions to give.

 

I've never played a free-to-play strategy RPG on the phone before, but this one... is pretty darn fun! It's very simple, with basic mechanics, but they work, and not once have I felt like positioning and tactics were unimportant. It doesn't really hold a candle to the main series proper, but that's probably for the best.

 

So far, my preferred team is Eliwood, Gwendolyn, Niles & Sharena, but I'm also building a secondary team of Nino, Jagen, Draug and Beruka. Definitely looking forward to unlocking more. Training characters up is daunting, but I think the methods make sense. It all functions like traditional Fire Emblem, and stars are promotion levels.

 

I like all the different modes. The Story eases you into the game and provides harder versions of itself, the tower is nice to grind a little and try out new characters & skills, and the Arena gives you the real challenge (I haven't quite figured out how or when do the "arena emblems" refill, though). I think I like the Achievement system the most, though, encouraging you to play differently, or seek out specific goals.

 

The story is throwaway, but it's awesome to see so many familiar faces. As a FE fan, I love seeing the likes of Matthew, Fir and Nino with new artwork and voices. And plenty new dialogue to boot, I love talking to random people at the base.

 

(As a side-note, "My son Roy surpasses me in every way"? What have you been smoking, Eliwood?)

 

So yeah, I think this game deserves to find success, even if it is Fire Emblem-lite. And for those of you playing this as your first Fire Emblem... if you like how this one plays, you should absolutely check out the main series proper. It offers much greater gameplay depth, as well as dialogue actually worth reading.

[FireMeowth]

So, uh... I may have spent three days rerolling just to get an adorable Tiki......

 

It was totally worth it, though, cause not only did I get my beautiful 5-Star Tiki - I also got 5-Star Marth and 5-Star Cordelia!!

 

(Now to save all my Orbs and pray that they'll add ♯FE characters in the future...)

 

EDIT:

Also, in addition to looking adorable, Tiki even sounds adorable! I love her voice.

Edited February 5, 2017 by FireMeowth

[Jonnas]

Man, I've just been loving this game. I was lucky enough to pull a 5-star Lyn (), who quickly rose through the ranks. I ended up raising a bunch of characters (to fill multiple niches) while making my way through the harder modes, and now I have a "main" team I'm quite fond of using in the colosseum (Eliwood and Male Robin play a defensive game, with Lyn and Cordelia acting as glass cannons). I like that my opponents are strong and varied enough to keep me on my toes.

 

And what about that Narcian map that was released today, huh? It might just be one of the most cleverly designed levels I've ever seen. I've seen so many comments throughout the internet saying that their one team can't deal with this map. And they're right, you can't grab just any team of high-level lords and expect to win. You actually have to rely on a clever defensive setup using other options such as stat boosts and/or special moves. Fire Emblem has always been strategy first, and I'm so happy to see even a spin-off stick to that idea.

 

Anyway, the poll results came out yesterday:

 

 

 

 

 

To see the results for all the 300+ characters, click here. If you'd like to see them neatly separated by game, there's this post in the Serenes Forest forum that did just that.

 

Here are a few fun facts about the poll:

 

-The top two of each gender (Lyn, Lucina, Ike, Roy) will become special edition characters in FE Heroes. However, if they had taken the Top 4 overall, Tharja would've beaten Roy;

-Lyn received the most votes, but if you were to join the two Ikes, he'd have won, just barely;

-Speaking of vote-splitting, several characters were affected by it. If you were to join the votes for every character with two or more versions, you'd see quite a few changes to the ranking. The most notable ones would be Soren, the Black Knight, Inigo, Severa (those four would've made their respective Top 20), Tiki and Anna (both would've made Top 10). Also, Marth, Owain, Mia and Nephenee would move up a couple of places, but nothing too drastic.

 

...And in the middle of all of this, I still can't explain Dorcas' sudden surge in popularity. Not that I'm complaining, I always enjoy seeing weird surprises.

[FireMeowth]

I'm not even strong enough to beat the Lv. 25 Narcian map yet... Have to get some more training done!

I definitely won't be able to beat the Lv. 35 before the event ends, but I'll settle for the 2-Star version. Narcian is my favourite (main series) Fire Emblem villain, and my team really needs an Axe, so I'll gladly throw some more feathers at him.

[Jonnas]

I'm not even strong enough to beat the Lv. 25 Narcian map yet... Have to get some more training done!

I definitely won't be able to beat the Lv. 35 before the event ends, but I'll settle for the 2-Star version. Narcian is my favourite (main series) Fire Emblem villain, and my team really needs an Axe, so I'll gladly throw some more feathers at him.

 

As a tip, remember you don't necessarily need strong units, but the right ones. You need a character that can survive the initial onslaught, and then bring them back down and play defensively. I recommend a blue character, as reds get slaughtered immediately, and greens&colourless tend to be frail (though if you have a sturdy one, try them anyway). Resistance buffs, healing, and extra movement options (Draw Back, Pivot, etc.) also help.

 

I used Robin as my blue character (he's a relatively robust mage), Eliwood to passively boost everybody's resistance, Nino for her Draw Back (she also boosts attack), and Niles (an archer with very high resistance) to keep Narcian at bay and kill off the mages. My star unit Lyn would be useless in this map.

 

As of now, I only beat the Lv.25 map, as Robin can't quite handle the 35s yet. Narcian does seem to have pretty decent skills (Emerald Axe, Lancebreaker, Savage Blow), so good luck in getting him!

Edited February 11, 2017 by Jonnas

[V. Amoleo]

This game has hooked me much more than I thought it would. I find myself playing it whenever I get five minutes during the day.

 

I wonder if they ever considered making a 3DS version to go along with the iOS and Android ones.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

@Jonnas - You've just convinced me to download it. : peace:

[Jonnas]

Surprise announcement, Ephraim and Eirika are coming to Heroes at an unspecified date, as well as Seliph and Julia from Holy War Genealogy.

 

@Jonnas - You've just convinced me to download it. : peace:

 

I don't know which part of my post won you over, but I hope you enjoy it Remember, when you summon characters (including the first batch), be sure to get 5 at once, as it's cheaper that way (it usually costs 5 orbs per character, but five characters at once costs 20 orbs total).

[FireMeowth]

I finally got the fabulous Lord Narcian! Luckily my tactic of overleveling my team to compensate for its weaknesses worked in the end. (Tiki, Marth and Cordelia are all at level 32 now...)

 

Now to start training him up to the perfect 5-Star Hero he deserves to be...

[bob]

So I'm a bit confused about this game.

 

I'll go into a battle, and during it, someone will level up, and their stats will go up, but then after the battle, their stats and level are the same.

 

I thought I was just getting the characters confused but it's happened loads of times now. Some of them are levelling, but sometimes it doesn't register. Are there only specific times when it works?

[Jonnas]

So I'm a bit confused about this game.

 

I'll go into a battle, and during it, someone will level up, and their stats will go up, but then after the battle, their stats and level are the same.

 

I thought I was just getting the characters confused but it's happened loads of times now. Some of them are levelling, but sometimes it doesn't register. Are there only specific times when it works?

 

If a character dies, all experience gains in that map (including level ups) are negated for that character. For the experience to stick, they have to live through it.

[Naar]

[FireMeowth]

Man, I've gotta say... Ephraim sure is pretty lame in this game. Stop denying the obvious, prince!

[Jonnas]

Man, I've gotta say... Ephraim sure is pretty lame in this game. Stop denying the obvious, prince!

 

That's preposterous! Oh, so just because a guy has few coupled endings with his sister, strokes her face frequently, claims to have protected her ever since they were in the womb, and uses weapons named after incestuous twins, that means he's been Lannistering? Nonsense.

 

...

 

(But seriously, that line is brilliant. I can't believe Nintendo let that in)

[FireMeowth]

Well, I'm glad they referenced it directly, but I did mean what I said about him being pretty lame.

It's been quite a while since I played The Sacred Stones (one of the few Fire Emblem games I've played, actually... thanks for giving it to me for free, Nintendo~), but I don't remember him ever being so... weirdly aggressive about it there? Doesn't really suit him, imo.

 

Though apparently he's much more chill about it in the Japanese version, so I guess it could just be a failed attempt at a retcon by the FEH localization team? But whatever the reason I don't really like it.

 

 

......Or maybe I just don't like being called a fool...

[Dufniall]

Well, I'm glad they referenced it directly, but I did mean what I said about him being pretty lame.

It's been quite a while since I played The Sacred Stones (one of the few Fire Emblem games I've played, actually... thanks for giving it to me for free, Nintendo~), but I don't remember him ever being so... weirdly aggressive about it there? Doesn't really suit him, imo.

 

Though apparently he's much more chill about it in the Japanese version, so I guess it could just be a failed attempt at a retcon by the FEH localization team? But whatever the reason I don't really like it.

 

 

......Or maybe I just don't like being called a fool...

 

This! I also played Sacred Stones back in the days and don't remember him as a easily burned Lannister. But now...

 

On the other hand, I did summon me an epic 5 star Eirika!

[Jonnas]

Ephraim's hostility is uncharacteristic of him, I agree. In the original game, he was the more reckless and hot-headed of the twins, and I guess whoever wrote this script (whether the original writers or translators) tried to convey that by making Eirika the more reasonable one in the duo, but ended up making Ephraim OOC in the process.

 

What is even more uncharacteristic is Ephraim's purple prose about the strong sibling bond he shares with Eirika. I get that's the theme of the Paralogue, but sheesh! "I've been protecting Eirika since before we were born"? That's the creepiest line in the script!

 

Now, a neat thing I noticed is that, when Seliph interrupted the twins, that was the first time we saw characters from different games interacting with one another. I wish there was more of that.

[Glen-i]

Now, a neat thing I noticed is that, when Seliph interrupted the twins, that was the first time we saw characters from different games interacting with one another. I wish there was more of that.

 

Not quite, Fire Emblem: Awakening did it with it's DLC.

[bob]

Obviously the gameplay isn't, but is the story/dialogue fairly indicative of the main games?

[Jonnas]

Not quite, Fire Emblem: Awakening did it with it's DLC.

 

I meant this game in particular. So many characters from the series, but only one crossover interaction so far (and even so, just to interrupt).

 

Obviously the gameplay isn't, but is the story/dialogue fairly indicative of the main games?

 

I wouldn't say that, no. Fire Emblem games usually feature mostly-conventional medieval war and politics as backdrop, with some supernatural elements here and there (almost like a T-rated Game of Thrones). The story progression tends to have twists and turns, as even the simplest FE story has the main character making alliances and dealing with different factions.

 

Meanwhile, Heroes' plot is very basic, and just an excuse to feature several characters from the series.

 

As for the dialogue and writing, it's definitely much more extensive than what you see in Heroes. The minor characters that join your army usually have a lot of dialogue and depth for themselves (they talk with one another, they react to specific bosses, they have entire backstories hidden in optional conversations, etc.), whereas here we only get a few one-liners per character.

 

(Though to be fair, most of those one-liners are consistent with their original portrayals)

[FireMeowth]

I finally got Tiki to level 40! That special conversation afterwards... she really is the best...

 

Narcian also got to level 40 in the next fight - and just in time for the Arena bonus hero change - but he didn't have a conversation for me, probably because he's just 4-Star (still working on saving up those feathers)...

 

Marth and Cordelia are a bit behind, but they'll probably reach 40 fairly soon, too. Now if only they could bring on some more Heroes I want to roll for... I have so many orbs saved up...

 

 

EDIT:

There we go, they're all level 40 now~

Edited February 21, 2017 by FireMeowth

[FireMeowth]

Anyone else still obsessed with this game?

 

Well, okay, I'm not obsessed, but I'm definitely playing it more than I thought I would. Picking Team Lucina from the very start in the Voting Gauntlet (Smash Bros. main + Laura Bailey won over the other options lol) gave me enough feathers to get Narcian that fifth star he was craving. And he'll be level 40 again soon, thanks to the new 1.5x exp event.

 

...Now, I know I said I'd be saving up all my orbs for the day they add ♯FE characters, but after just barely scraping by on the easiest difficulty of the last Grand Hero Battle because I didn't have any strong ranged units (and I didn't want to throw feathers at characters I don't like lol), I was considering spending some of my orbs to get some decent ranged options...

 

...And then came Blazing Shadows.

Clearly IntSys knows exactly how to keep me interested, cause after weeks of disgusting "sibling bonds", they proceed to hit me with the one thing that would convince me beyond a shadow of a doubt to throw orbs at them:

 

Paralogue 3-3

 

Immediately, my "okay maybe I'll spend some orbs" got replaced by "I'LL SPEND ALL MY ORBS AND EVEN BUY MORE IF I HAVE TO JUST GIVE ME MY OTP!!!!"

 

Thankfully, I was extremely lucky - my very first summon was a beautiful 4-Star Nino, and it only took me a total of 71 orbs to get her beloved Jaffar. Together forever and ever.

 

(also got Priscilla and some decent colorless 4-Stars, but who cares about them lol)

 

I'm glad I didn't have to actually spend any money to get them, but man... it's kinda scary how quickly I lost control there, haha... At least it's unlikely to happen again before they add ♯FE characters...

[Jonnas]

Anyone else still obsessed with this game?

 

You kiddin' me? I've been loving it Proud Sharena-then-Ephraim supporter, though.

 

Congrats on your 4-star Nino. I had to raise mine from 3 stars! And good going on getting lucky with the pulls, as I certainly want one of the Elibe characters (Ninian, Karel or Jaffar would be peachy)... and I got Pent's son Klein, instead. Who is also a very good unit. Not sure if the game's trolling me or what, but I'll keep using every orb I can to draw at least one of the new characters (Lucius is the one I want least, but heck, I'd settle even for him)

 

Also, pro-tip: tomorrow (Monday), from roughly 12:00 to 13:00 (GMT), a new Grand Hero Battle will be available for that hour alone. It's basically there to give you a taste of what to expect (it's going to debut properly on Thursday), but if you beat the map, you'll get Michalis anyway. Since he comes with Iote's shield, he ought to be valuable.