Fire Emblem Fates

Fire Emblem Fates is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS. It launched in Japan in June 2015, followed by North America and Europe releases in 2016. Rather than one single campaign, Fates is divided into three related versions: Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation. The first two present opposing sides of the same civil war, while Revelation is a downloadable campaign that explains the conflict's deeper origins. Across them, players command units on grid-based maps, combining weapon use, class changes, and character relationships. That structure makes Fates a particularly unusual entry. The protagonist is Corrin, a royal raised in the kingdom of Nohr but born to the Hoshidan royal family. At the opening, Corrin returns to Nohr after years of captivity and is forced to choose between the adoptive Nohrian siblings and biological Hoshidan relatives. Birthright follows Corrin's decision to join Hoshido, whose capital is seized during the invasion. Conquest follows the opposite choice: Corrin remains with Nohr and attempts to reform it from within, producing a more constrained campaign with deliberately limited experience and resources. Revelation rejects both loyalties and sends Corrin into the hidden kingdom of Valla. There, Corrin discovers the truth. Valla is a hidden kingdom beneath the two nations, and its ruler, the dragon Anankos, manipulates the war while remaining unseen in the routes. Revelation reveals that the Nohrian king Garon is a mindless vessel controlled by Anankos, and that the Hoshidan royal Mikoto was killed by an attack linked to the same plot. The campaign brings Hoshidan and Nohrian royals together against Valla. Its maps and story require players to understand previous routes, making Revelation the narrative resolution of Fates rather than another side selection. The game also emphasizes Corrin's unusual dragon heritage through transformations and a personal weapon. Fates' gameplay systems include pair-up and support conversations, which let adjacent characters cooperate in battle and can lead to marriages and children. Married units may recruit offspring through paralogues, including Kana, Corrin's child, and heirs such as Shigure and Selkie. The three campaigns also use different map objectives and balancing: Birthright is designed as the accessible route, whereas Conquest restricts grinding and focuses on demanding objectives. Fates introduced the My Castle feature, where players could build facilities, visit castles, and battle online. Its soundtrack includes work by Hiroki Morishita, Rei Kondoh, and Takeru Kanazaki, with songs featuring vocals by Renka.