Nintendo kicked off its Fire Emblem Direct presentation earlier this afternoon not with the reveal of its mobile title, but a new-but-old 3DS installment titled Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. We say "old" because its actually a 3DS remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, previously confined to Japan where it originally launched for the Famicom (NES) waaay back in 1992. Of particular note to longtime Nintendo fans is that the late Gunpei Yokoi (known for the Game & Watch and Game Boy handhelds, among other achievements) served as producer for Gaiden.
Fire Emblem Echoes retains the premise, characters and setting of the original NES release; protagonists Alm and Celica hail from neighboring kingdoms, and despite their heritage must join forces in order to bring an end to a continental war that has engulfed both their lands. The original Gaiden release was known for toning down the turn-based strategy RPG battles for a greater emphasis on traditional RPG elements including a world map with landmarks to explore (later leveraged in Sacred Stones for the GBA) and of course the now-staple character interactions.
Echoes pays tribute to Gaiden daring to be different at the time with some new series elements of its own, like third-person dungeon exploration complete with treasures to loot and enemies to draw into Fire Emblem-styled battles. More importantly, Echoes will mark the first time that Gaiden receives an official English language localization after all these years, albeit in considerably updated form complete with amiibo support. Yes, Nintendo is set to release new amiibo based on Fire Emblem Gaiden's main characters Alm and Celica. Yes, we will have Fire Emblem Gaiden amiibo before any news on Mother 3.
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia launches for the 3DS this May 19th.
It'll be interesting to play 3DS FE game without the avatar system as well.