E3 2017: Fire Emblem Warriors Hands-on Preview

June 14, 2017

Transcribed from notes taken by Adam Ghiggino.

Koei Tecmo are at it again with Nintendo licenses! Following on from Hyrule Warriors for the Wii U and 3DS, this time Omega Force has taken the turn bases strategy RPG Fire Emblem franchise and mashed it with the hack and slash gameplay of Dynasty Warriors to create a brand new game, Fire Emblem Warriors. Adam was able to go hands on with the game on the E3 2017 show floor and is here to let us know what he though.

The level Adam played at E3 had all the standard Dynasty Warriors tropes – taking on a huge number of enemies while specifically targeting commanders and captains, taking over forts on a map and eventually taking on the leader of the opposing army to win the battle.

The action is ridiculously satisfying, as you’re not only defeating waves of enemies on the ground but can also perform combos and juggle opponents in the air.  One of the more interesting enemy types are the mounted pegasus cavalry units, which float in the air and require air-juggling combos to defeat.

Similar to Samurai Warriors 4 and the Samurai Warriors: Chronicles games you play as four characters on the map simultaneously and can switch between them at any time by using the D-Pad. It’s a great way to jump around the map quickly to where the action is, but you do have to also watch each character to make sure they’re not in distress and are handling things fine on their own. You can also direct characters to points of interests, such as an enemy officer or a fort, giving you more control over the battlefield with this strategic gameplay option.

During the demo Adam could control March, Chrom, Corrin and a new character called Lianna. Each character had their own play style, combos and attacks, making them all feel unique and different from each other. You can team up with two of these characters at a time to form a stronger unit and pull off powerful special attacks. In particular, there are two gauges which fill when you defeat enemies. If you use the first gauge only it lets you unleash powerful combo attacks, but if you wait until you have two gauges available you can unleash a powerful special attack. Corrin, for example, is able to turn into a dragon and will steamroll enemies.

While it is fun to aimlessly slash away at enemies on the battlefield, you can also use an auto-lock mechanic which automatically locks onto the strongest opponent. This is particularly useful when fighting enemy commanders.

While Adam only played the Switch version on the floor, it’s worth nothing the game is coming out on the New 3DS, New 3DS XL and New 2DS XL systems. It will not be compatible with the regular 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS systems.

One of the main appeals of the Dynasty Warriors games is that they make the player feel like a powerful, godly force on the battlefield. Fire Emblem Warriors follows this trait superbly well, with its unabashedly over the top action. This is one title fans will want to look out for when it releases during the Australian Spring of 2017.