Fire Emblems Heroes is now available to download

Fire Emblem Heroes is now available to download from iTunes and the Google Play Store. I’m always a bit hesitant when it comes to mobile adaptations of games I love, and there are so few developers that have been able to facilitate this transition successfully. I’m glad to say that Fire Emblem Heroes, though short on content, is a well crafted game that is highly addictive.

Fire Emblem Heroes features a world with two kingdoms: the Emblian Empire, which wishes to rule all worlds, and the Askran Kingdom, which stands in its way. The royal families possess the power to open the gateways between worlds and rally heroes to their causes. You are a summoner with the special ability to call upon these legendary allies in order to save the Kingdom of Askr from destruction as part of the Order of Heroes.

Featuring familiar faces from across the Fire Emblem universe, you are tasked with creating a four person team in order to take on the various storyline missions.

Here is a bit of a summary of what I’ve discovered so far:

• Movement range is either two or three spaces depending on the unit, which makes sense given the much smaller battlefield sizes.
• The weapon and magic trinity are present as a more general colour coded system. Red beats green which beats blue. Clerics, archers and ninjas are colourless.
• Every attack, from both sides, will hit. There is no skill or luck stat in this adaptation which changes how the battle flows dramatically.
• You summon Heroes to add to your team from the worlds by paying Orbs at your summoning gate. You receive a discount off the total cost for each Hero you summon at the same time, and require around 25 Orbs to do all 5 at once
• There is no class change mechanism (probably the only let down for me really)
• There are 45 chapters/missions to the storyline at present
• There is an arena mode
• There is a training mode
• It is well worth investing in upgrading your castle, as it confers an EXP boost to your units
• Battles take no more than 3-5 mins each

Like most mobile games, there are in-app purchases available in the form of Orbs. I think I was incredibly lucky to get Takumi, a five star Hero, on my first or second summoning attempt. I’m putting the ease with which I got through the currently available chapters down to having him because he is an absolute beast. This game is quick, fun and pays homage to a fantastic JRPG series. I hope they introduce new storyline content soon to keep my appetite whet. If you’re struggling to find a decent addition to your mobile repertoire, I highly recommend this one. You don’t have to pay for progress and only the tiniest bit of patience is required to allow your stamina to recharge if it runs out between missions (or you can sacrifice Orbs to refresh it).