More details on the upcoming FE Echoes: Shadows of Valentia has dropped via Famitsu, after yesterday’s report from PAX. While some of it is a mere reconfirmation of things already assumed or known, it does detail a couple noteworthy aspects.
First, difficulty levels appear to be the same as in Awakening — Normal and Hard, with the option to play on Classic (permadeath) or Casual (no permadeath). No word on whether there’s a higher difficulty à la Lunatic, but it seems Fates’ Phoenix mode is nowhere to be seen. Famitsu also confirmed that the game doesn’t have a weapon triangle, but stresses the importance of terrain, which can boost avoid and lower hit chances greatly (in forests, for example, the hit rate drops 40%). Magic can ignore terrain, but it also costs HP to cast, meaning that it’s crucial to plan ahead.
The most interesting mechanic, however, is something called Mila’s Gear. This system will allow you to rewind unit movements one at a time in battle, giving you the opportunity to fix misclicks or better ease yourself into the strategic roleplaying the game has to offer. The number of times you can use Mila’s Gear seems to be limited, so it’s not completely game breaking, and offers a fresh boost to franchise conventions.
The magazine also debuted a few new characters who weren’t in the original FE Gaiden. Berkut is the nephew of the Emperor of Rigel who leads the coup in Zofia. Effie (no relation to the Fates character) is a childhood friend of Alm’s who joins his army to stay close to him. And there are many returning characters to the fray as well, such as Silque/Silk, a cleric Alm rescues early on.
Shadows of Valentia drops May 19th in North America. You can pre-order it on Amazon today.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
