Fire Emblem Fates is an interesting chapter in the Fire Emblem franchise since it features two different games and stories, Birthright and Conquest. Now, a couple of weeks after the original release, a third arc has been added to the story. Revelation is the third and final piece of the Corrin puzzle and offers more of the same yet in a different way.
Corrin wants peace
As you might recall, Fire Emblem Fates offers two different stories, based on Corrin’ choice. Long story short, Corrin could pick sides with the Oshido kingdom or its rival, the Nohr kingdom. Picking sides resulted in Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. But what would happen is Corrin didn’t want war? What if he stayed neutral and didn’t pick a side? That’s when Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation starts.
Since Corrin doesn’t want to pick a side, it also means he doesn’t have an army standing behind him. To make things worse, both the Oshido and Nohr kingdoms consider Corrin a betrayer and both want to end his life as soon as possible. Since you’re on your own this time, Revelation truly offers a different experience and interesting new take on the story.
Trust your friends
The lack of plenty of troops is an interesting new start of the game. Only Azura and Felicia are on your side at the start and you’ll have to fight off two armies using these three playable characters. Since it’s not that easy to start off this small, the developers made sure the three characters are well balanced. You’ll use Corrin for the heavy attacks, Felicia for healing and Azura for an extra attack for each character. Thanks to this balance, you’ll manage to survive the first couple of missions without too much trouble but you’ll discover soon enough that three isn’t an army; you’ll need to form alliances.
Discover the truth
Convince others to fight for your cause
Recruiting new members always played an important role in the franchise but never was it of this importance as in Revelation. Without extra members, you won’t make a chance to survive. At first, it’s not easy for Corrin to recruit others since he’s considered a coward and a traitor in both kingdoms. This is where the story really kicks off. As the title suggest, you’ll finally learn the truth behind the war, the only downside is that you can’t talk about it without dying. It’s an interesting tool to keep the story going but it never feels cheap. The story of Revelation is by far the best of them all since it’s filled with emotional conversations and plot-twists.
Things get most interesting the moment you manage to recruit members of both the Oshido and Nohr kingdom, together under one banner. Speaking with them often results in interesting conversations since it’s not easy for the men to trust each other. Revelation is at its best during these conversations, they give you some more insight in some of the major characters and their motives for the raging war.
Classic gameplay
Besides the interesting story, Revelation brings more of the same when it comes to gameplay but that’s nothing to worry about. The Fire Emblem gameplay has always been great and Revelation isn’t an exception. As far as the difficulty goes, you can still alter it to your liking, making it harder if you please. It’s somewhere between the difficulty level of Birthright and Conquest, meaning newcomers will manage to survive while veteran players will be able to boost things up for a true challenge.
That being said, Revelation still offers the turn-based action we all came to love in the franchise. The weapon circle is back, always giving a certain type of weapon an advantage or disadvantage over another one. The members you can recruit for your army all feel different and have their own unique abilities and gear. It’s amazing to see ‘normal’ knights fight side by side with more magical creatures. It’s something the franchise is extremely good at and if you like Fates, you’ll love Revelation for sure.
Conclusion
Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation is definitely worth playing if you played Birthright or Conquest (or both). It offers a very interesting story where you’ll get to discover more about some of the important characters. It’s not always an easy game but it’s an arc worth completing thanks to some very interesting plot-twists. If you want to know the truth behind the brutal war, Revelation is the only way to find out.
