As fans of Intelligent Systems' tactical RPG franchise are likely well aware, Fire Emblem was going to end with 2012's Awakening on 3DS. There was a surge of popularity with the series' first western releases on Game Boy Advance (GBA), spurned by Marth and Roy's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but that did not carry over to the Tellius entries on GameCube and Wii. Long-time producer Hitoshi Yamagami said Nintendo threatened to cancel the series if Awakening did not sell 250,000 copies; its unprecedented success led to a huge revival with projects such as Fire Emblem Heroes.
The original Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light released on NES in 1990, setting the stage for a storied franchise with a myriad of mechanics across its entries. Fire Emblem Awakening was meant to feature everything but the kitchen sink, grabbing as many ideas as possible for a grand finale. That philosophy carried into all future entries, creating a sort of "new," beginner-friendly Fire Emblem that left its older titles behind in the eyes of many fans. As a celebratory mobile game, Fire Emblem Heroes has kept its series' history alive and given various characters new life over the last five years.
Fire Emblem Heroes' History
Fire Emblem Heroes debuted on February 2, 2017. It was the second game to release after Awakening, following Fire Emblem Fates in 2015 (not counting Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem crossover Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE on Wii U). Heroes is a gacha game, in which players collect a premium currency called Orbs through various tasks or microtransactions that allow them to summon heroes from regions across the franchise.
Rather than letting this concept stand on its own, Intelligent Systems created an entirely new world with its own mythology to facilitate the idea of collecting characters. Fire Emblem Heroes' ongoing narrative began with a conflict between the nations of Askr and Embla, which once worked together in order to open and close gateways to other realms, respectively. The player is a self-insert character with the ability to wield Breidablik; a divine relic that summons heroes using the aforementioned Orbs.
Over five years, the game's main cast has visited other parts of its world that made it increasingly clear Heroes is based around Norse mythology. The nine realms are represented by lands like Nifl, Muspell, Hel, and Nidavellir, offering an anime-inspired take on the current zeitgeist of Norse stories in games like God of War (2018) and Valheim. This original story updating every other week no doubt keeps a lot of fans interested, and facilitates a continual drip of characters from prior titles; each with unique artwork, voice acting, and skills that play into a simplified tactical framework.
Fire Emblem Heroes Gives Characters New Life
The core appeal of waiting for one's favorite units to be added is supplemented by special characters in alternate costumes. This is par-for-the-course when discussing mobile gacha games, as units in unique outfits for holidays or other events available during a limited time are frequent ways to foster a fear of missing out (FOMO). Where Fire Emblem Heroes has succeeded over contemporaries like Pokemon Masters EX is being a marketing tool. New characters have released to coincide the launch of Echoes: Shadows of Valentia and Three Houses, with Koei Tecmo's hack-and-slash Fire Emblem Warriors also receiving an event around late 2017.
However, much of Intelligent Systems' push for new games likely stems from Fire Emblem's overall success after Awakening. Fire Emblem: Three Houses on Switch became its best-selling entry after 2019, and fervor should grow in the years to follow. Heroes has similarly been a successful project, one of the most lucrative mobile games to come out of Nintendo's ventures - though nowhere close to Niantic's Pokemon GO. It's little wonder why the game has lasted five years.
What's interesting to see out of this success is the way Fire Emblem Heroes brings older characters into the limelight. An early example was Reinhardt, an antagonist from the series' arguably most obscure title Thracia 776 (a sort of spin-off for the already Japanese-exclusive SNES title Genealogy of the Holy War). The character was added close to launch with a powerful magic tomb that often let him get four hits in a row. Reinhardt was easy to obtain and abuse, becoming the subject of multiple memes rather than fading into obscurity.
A similar case cropped up just before the fifth anniversary. Late last month Intelligent Systems released a new Mythic Hero based on Elimine from the continent of Elibe. Mythic Hero status is often reserved for gods and myths, previously going to characters such as Duma and Mila from Shadows of Valentia, as well as Sothis from Three Houses. The kicker is Elimine was a saintly, legendary hero who never actually appeared outside of stories. Her design in the mobile game is based on a cameo image players could see by linking The Blazing Blade on GBA to the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! bonus disc on GameCube.
The Future of Fire Emblem Looks Bright
Modern units have been just as likely to gain popularity in Fire Emblem Heroes. The Gatekeeper from Three Houses is a good example of an auxiliary character whom fans fell in love with, to the extent he won a "Choose Your Legends" popularity poll and was later added to the mobile game. Yet it's far more impressive to see someone like Reinhardt become a household name for fans considering he's trapped in a Japanese-exclusive title released decades before Fire Emblem came into its own.
While the mobile game has kept its series' history in the forefront, it has also experimented. Brand-new modes have been introduced each year since release, ranging in genre from rhythm to auto-chess, and testing the waters in this small scale suggests Intelligent Systems is thinking about the future. Most recent rumors have pointed to a Fire Emblem remake in development for Switch, but even if the next game is wholly original there's room to see ideas tested by Heroes given full-scale adaptations.
Regardless of what's next, it's unlikely Fire Emblem Heroes will falter. There are plenty of characters from every entry in the franchise who have yet to get their spotlight, and five years in it's still going stronger than other Nintendo mobile games. Dr. Mario World opened and shut down during that time, for example. Not every decision Heroes makes is popular, with the paid Feh Pass being one stand-out example, but it's proven to be a worthy addition to the series all the same.
Fire Emblem Heroes is available now on Android and iOS devices.
