Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness

Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness (ファイアーエムブレム闇の後嗣 Faiā Emuburemu: Yami no kōshi, lit. Fire Emblem: Heir of the Dark) is a turn-based strategy RPG developed by Frostfire Studios and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. This game is the 17th installment of the series and is set to be released on the Nintendo Switch. The game will feature cut-scenes, full voice acting and be rendered in a three-dimensional, cel-shaded style.
==Background==
Hundreds of years ago, the continent of Bríatha was ruled by eight cruel manaketes known as the Fell Dragons who enslaved not only humanity, but also many of their fellow manaketes. After a century of mistreatment, the slaves rebelled. The rebellion initially fared poorly for the slaves, until eight humans wielding weapons made from the blood of a god appeared. Each hero left to confront a single Fell Dragon and each hero succeeded in killing their respective target. With their leaders dead, the forces of the Fell Dragons were soon defeated and their empire broken up. The eight heroes would then go their separate ways never to meet again, countries new and old would be founded or restored and most of the manakete population on the continent would emigrate north and found Sihai, the Land of Dragons. However, the Fell Dragons in death left behind a terrible legacy: their personal dragonstones which would later be known as the Fellstones.
Decades would pass with nothing to disturb the newfound peace Bríatha enjoyed until a group of mages attempted to harness the power of seven of the Fellstones in an attempt to obtain immortality and powerful magic. Their attempt nearly destroyed the entire continent and were only stopped thanks to the intervention of King of Dragons, Tiamat. Fearing their power would be misused in Sihai, Tiamat instead gifted the stones to seven humans to be hidden. The first stone was hidden in the heart of a trap-filled pyramid in Ur. The second is safeguarded by a tribe of nomads from Scythia and never stays in one place for long. The third stone was hidden in Massalia and kept under the watchful eye of powerful priests. The fourth stone was given to the King of Alba and was hidden somewhere in the royal palace. The fifth stone was taken by the king of the recently united Heimat and hidden within a secret vault. The sixth stone was taken by an Archsage and taken to a magic academy in what would later become a city-state of Corsica. The seventh stone was taken to an island off the coast of Idenn. The eigth and last stone's location was lost after the death of its Fell Dragon owner, but is rumored to be in Fiana. Despite the immense power a Fellstone holds, most people would eventually forget of their existence over the centuries or come to believe them to be nothing but myth.
Over thirty years before the start of Child of Darkness, a large force of humans known as the Fomoiri from the continent of Fomoria, invaded Bríatha. An alliance between Alba, Massalia, Corsica, Fiana and Heimat was formed to repel the invasion. While it took years of effort and the aid of several of the legendary weapons, the invading forces were defeated. However, Heimat had suffered many casualties that left its military severely weakened. This weakness was exploited by Alba, Massalia and Corsica who invaded and annexed much of Heimat's western territory. With a weakened military and a weak-willed Emperor, Heimat was unable to prevent this betrayal from occurring. Years later, prince Rudel of Heimat ascended the throne and became Emperor, despite being an illegitimate child, after the suspicious deaths of his half-siblings and father. With Rudel in control of Heimat, he slowly rebuilt its military and filled the country's coffers, swearing revenge on Heimat's former allies.
==Setting==
Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness is the prequel to Fire Emblem: Inheritors of Madness, set on the same continent 100 years before its sequel's events. Child of Darkness takes place on the continent of Bríatha, which is divided into roughly ten countries. The Kingdom of Alba, the Theocracy of Massalia, the Clans of Fiana, the Empire of Heimat, the plains of Scythia, the Cradle of Humanity Ur, the Mercenary Kingdom of Idenn, the Merchant States of Corsica, the Land of Dragons Sihai and the mysterious Island of Mist that is sometimes called Ogham.
The game stars two main lord characters: the Sellsword Sanger and Princess Selene of Alba, the ancestors to some of the characters in Inheritors of Madness. The game is roughly divided into two segments: the first segment deals with Sanger meeting and rescuing Selene after her escort is killed by an unknown party and attempting to get her back to the royal palace safely. The much longer second part deals with Sanger and Selene's efforts at repelling an invasion by Emperor Rudel from the neighboring country of Heimat and its allies.
Many characters would make an appearance in the next game in their older forms, including Macha, Vedmak and Kara. Several characters who are ancestors to those in Inheritors of Madness are also playable characters.
==Story==
==Gameplay==
===Combat===
Similar to the other games in the series, Child of Darkness is a turn-based strategy RPG where players move characters around a grid-like map in order to complete certain objectives, such as capturing a castle, killing a boss or having all characters retreat from the map. The story is divided into chapters while story elements are told through animated scenes with portraits of the characters in addition to cut scenes that are present at certain points in the story. Players are given the chance to save after the completion of each chapter, as well as an autosave feature in the event that the console turns off for any reason.
Each unit has their own stats in 8 categories: HP, Strength, Magic, Skill, Speed, Defense, Resistance and Luck. Combat or healing abilities depend on a unit's stats and can provide advantages if certain categories are higher than an opponent's. Like most other games in the series, Child of Darkness follows a rock-paper-scissors mechanism known as the weapon triangle. In this triangle, swords beat axes, axes beat lances and lances beat swords. There exists a similar mechanism for magic known as the trinity of magic where anima beats light, light beats dark and dark beats anima. In addition, weapons such as bows, daggers and staves exist outside of the weapon triangle and trinity of magic.
===Units===
All 45 units in Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness are divided into classes; such as the physical classes Fighter, Cavalier and Knight alongside magic classes such as Wind Mage, Troubadour and Shaman. A physical unit, depending on their class can wield weapons comprising of swords, axes, lances, bows and daggers while a magical unit depending on their class can wield anima magic (comprising of fire, wind and thunder magic), light magic, dark magic and staves (mainly for healing but also for inflicting status ailments). Weapons and magic possess different levels of mastery, ranging from E-rank at the lowest end to S-rank at the highest end. What weapons or magic a unit can use depends on what class they are in and no class can wield all weapons or magic.
Like the other Fire Emblem games, units become more powerful by leveling up, which occurs when 100 experience points are accumulated. Non-promoted classes may change classes once hey have reached a minimum level of 10 with the aid of items such as Master Seals. However, Master Seals are not required to change classes as units will promote upon reaching level 21.
===Supports===
In Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness, the level of support between units is determined by how many chapters they have participated together. The level of support is measured with three ranks. C-rank is the lowest level and corresponds to one conversation, B-rank is the middle level and corresponds to two conversations and A-rank is the highest level at three conversations. Each unit also possess an elemental affinity and support bonuses will depend on the affinity combination between both units. To obtain support bonuses, characters must be within three spaces of each other. In order for support levels to increase, characters must be deployed in the same chapter and for each support increase, a go conversation occurs. However, conversations will occur at the base before a chapter starts instead of on the battlefield.
Each character can only have one A-rank support, but may have as many B-rank supports as they wish so long as they reach the required number of prerequisite chapters deployed together.
==Returning Features==
==Characters==
===Playable Characters===
Character	Class 	Joins In	Description
Sanger 	Sellsword 	Prologue	Sanger is a wandering, cynical mercenary originally from Fianna. While rude and distant, he is willing to help those in need, is willing to make certain compromises on payments with those who can't afford it and is extremely loyal to those the few people he calls friend. Rather than stay in one place or serve one particular lord for long periods of time, he prefers to wander from land to land in search of work. Despite his overall negative personality, he is hiding a great deal of sadness and loss, keeping a great deal of secrets about himself and his past locked away. He is also determined to find a specific item, the details of which only he knows.
Selene 	Princess 	N/A 	The young and only princess of the Kingdom of Alba and second in line to the throne. Heavily sheltered, she wishes to see the world, even if only for a short amount of time. Because of her upbringing, she is very naive about the world, causing her many problems in her travels. A wide-eyed idealist, Selene believes that people are inherently good and is willing to try to talk down people like bandits and slavers. After her retinue is killed early in the game, she hires Sanger to protect her and travel with her around Alba before she is inevitably forced back to a sheltered life.
Sidhe 	Paladin 	N/A 	A young, but highly skilled knight of Alba and captain of the royal guard in charge of protecting princess Selene. Born as the third son to a noble house with a high influence, Sidhe has had many things in his life come to him with little to no effort, but would rather work hard and earn positions and titles through merit. He trusts few people and takes his job as captain of Selene's royal guard very seriously, though he has a soft spot for the princess. While harsh with both his words and his training methods, he is fair with his judgments and is unbiased towards others, even those of lower classes.
Ark 	Cavalier 	N/A 	Ark is a young knight of Alba and is a member of the royal guard in charge of protecting princess Selene. He is more calm and less quick to anger than his fellow knight and royal guard, Sina. However, he is a bit indecisive and can be slow to come to his own decisions on certain subjects when not given orders. Despite this, the is deeply loyal to his comrades and will not hesitate to protect those who cannot defend themselves, something he has in common with his liege, princess Selene. He is also a forgiving individual except to those who perform the most heinous of crimes such as trying to harm Selene.
Sina 	Cavalier 	N/A 	Sina is a young knight of Alba and a member of the royal guard in charge of protecting princess Selene. She is willful and passionate, but has also been known to be reckless. Unlike her fellow knight Ark, Sina is very quick to anger and tends to be spontaneous with her decisions. Despite this, she respects her higher ups and will listen to orders, though they might have to be emphasized. She has no interest in cooking or dresses and became a knight to avoid being married off by her parents.
Len 	Thief 	N/A 	A thief born in the slums of a town in Alba. Was planing to loot a bandit fortress but after seeing the naive Rani get captured, had a change of heart and begged Sanger and Selene for help in rescuing Rani.
Rembert 	Knight 	N/A 	A knight in service to the king of Alba. Is compassionate to his allies but ruthless to his enemies. After the king of Almb is killed in a coup, Rembert seeks revenge and joins up with Sanger and Selene to obtain it.
Tory 	Archer 	N/A 	Tory is a mercenary archer originally from a small village in Fiana. He is a laid-back and jovial individual who likes to joke around with people. He was once a shepherd who used a bow to keep wild animals away from his sheep, but grew bored with his monotonous life and became a mercenary. He is highly competitive and loves to enter archery competitions, but hates to lose to the sniper Uriah. He has worked on jobs with Sanger in the past and is considered eccentric yet reliable by the sellsword. He has admited that Tory is not his real name.
Cernach 	Mercenary 	N/A 	Cernach is a warrior from Fiana and is considered one of the best swordsman in the country. He initially joins Sanger and Selene's party after they save his life. However, his true reason for joining them is to keep an eye on Rinnal and to assess if Sanger is the prophicised "Child of Darkness". He is dutiful, loyal and wishes to duel Indra after witnessing his unusual sword techniques.
Rinnal 	Soldier 	N/A 	A battle-hungry spearman from Fiana. He lives for the thrill of battle and left his home to fight with Alba in the war against the invading Heimat. Despite his violent personality, he only uses lethal force against those who can defend themselves. One day, he hopes to prove himself worthy of the legendary lance Adreadhar.
Cairpri 	Fire Mage 	N/A 	Tory is a mage from Fiana. He is an outcast from his clan. Decides to warn Sanger and Selene's party that they will be ambushed by his clan and helps fend them off. Is distant towards most other people and wishes to leave Fiana in order to go study foreign magic. Has an interest in divination and interpreting prophecies.
 Laci 	Pegasus Knight	N/A 	Laci is a mercenary-solider from Idenn sent to Alba to complete her training, and is the younger sister to Phobe and Terra. Cheerful, energetic and enthusiastic, Laci is relatively easy to get along with and makes friends easily. However, in her attempts to prove her strength and reliability to others, she tends to overwork herself. Despite the dangerous life as a mercenary, she is excited to help her country and enjoys learning about other cultures. She joined Idenn's military in order to remain together with her sisters and as thanks for raising her.
 Phobe 	Pegasus Knight	N/A 	Phobe is a mercenary-solider from Idenn and the middle child of three sisters, with Laci and Terra being her younger and older sister respectively. Being a middle child, she feels that she is often overlooked and not as talented as her two sisters. Despite this, she greatly loves her siblings and joined Idenn's military in order to help provide for Laci's care. This is further shown when she refuses to fight against her sister when she joins the opposite side of the Alba-Heimat war and even defects after being persuaded by Laci.
Terra 	Falcon Knight 	N/A 	Terra is a mercenary-solider from Idenn and is the oldest of three sisters, with Laci and Phobe being her younger siblings. She helped raise Laci after their mother abandoned them, and eventually joined Idenn's military in order to make a living for her sisters. Her hard work, skill and dedication eventually earned her the right-hand position to general Aenea, to whom she is incredibly loyal to. She is motherly towards her siblings but also tends to be strict. She also has an affinity for pegasi and is very knowledgable about them.
Aenea 	Wyvern Rider 	N/A 	Aenea is a general of Idenn and is the commander of Laci, Phobe and Terra. She is loyal to Idenn as a whole but doubts the current king's abilities to lead.
 Chase 	Wyvern Rider 	N/A 	Chase is a wyvern rider in Idenn's mercenary army. Was not liked by his previous comrades and shuffled from unit to unit until assigned under general Aenea. Has an affinity for wyverns and is very knowledgable about their biology.
Grendel 	Brigand 	N/A 	Reworking
Finna 	Troubadour 	N/A 	A high-ranking noble from Massalia. While a bit needy, she is a sincere and confident individual as well as a good healer. She is best friends with Princess Selene and has known her since the two were toddlers. She is also known to be generous towards others and believes in paying one's debts, even for very minor things.
Ilya 	Mage Knight 	N/A 	A mage knight from Massalia who comes from a family of hedge mages. Despite being a commoner, he developed feelings for Finna and desires to prove himself worthy of her. He is focused, reliable and dutiful. His personality and skill with both spell and sword earned him a knighthood despite his age and commoner status.
Finnian 	Bishop 	N/A 	A high-ranking priest from Massalia. While he used to be active in the politics in the Church of Massalia, he has since retired due to his age. Was once the wielder of the Legendary Shamrock tome and is still its keeper, but seeks to pass it on to a worthy successor.
Enlil 	Wind Mage 	N/A 	A young mage from Ur and the younger twin brother of Ninlil. He traveled the continent with his sister Ninlil, fellow mage Ninuta and protector Sharur, in order to hone his magic before getting separated from the group. Cares greatly for his sister and learned magic in order to spend time with her.
Ninuta 	Thunder Mage 	N/A 	A young mage from Ur and the traveling companion of Enlil, Ninlil and Sharur. Of her companions, she is the least experience with magic and travels the continent in order to hone her magic to become an assassin. Despite this, she is very kind to others and wishes to exceed the expectations placed on her. 
Ninlil 	Shaman 	N/A 	A young shaman from Ur and the older twin sister of Enlil. She traveled the continent with hwe brother Enlil and two other companions to hone her magic skills before getting seperated from her group. She seeks to better understand Dark Magic and other ancient magics due to their decline in use. Is studious and at times, anti-social.
Uriah 	Sniper 	N/A 	A young man from the desert kingdom of Ur and is considered one of the best archers on the continent. Despite being born to a noble house, he does not care for luxury or for the god-king of Ur. Constantly seeks to improve himself despite his skill.
Sharur 	Assassin 	N/A 	An assassin in the service of god-king Gilgamesh of Ur. Was originally an orphan until being taken in by Gilgamesh to be trained as one of his personal assassins, undergoing rigorous training in the process and has trouble with emotions because of it. Was entrusted with the protection and training of Enlil, Ninlil and Ninuta but was also instructed to kill them if they showed little promise. Eventually grew attatched to Ninuta due to her kindness and betrayed Ur alongside her.
Tamara 	Plainsman 	N/A 	A woman from the plains of Scythia. Quiet, somber and motherly, she goes where the wind takes her. Has difficulties talking to strangers but is very protective of people especially children.
Arbela 	Myrmidon 	N/A 	A young woman from the plains of Scythia who prefers women and is nervous around men. Left the plains in order to escape the constant unwanted attention she would get from others because of her beauty. She is humble and non-judgmental towards others. Is acquainted with Tamara.
Kara 	Valkyrie 	N/A 	A seer from the plains of Scythia with possible history to the Island of Ogham. She is a gentle soul who is unfailingly polite to everybody and runs an orphanage where her shrine is located. She has a great desire to help people  with her visions but harbors regrets over some of her past actions. She is over 300 years old and was the seer who divined the Child of Darkness prophecy, and is indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands over the centuries. She joins Sanger and Selene's party to try and make up for the harm her prophecy has caused.
Grimir 	Pirate 	N/A 	A privateer from the Republic of Corsica. An ambitious and daring individual with a great love for wine, song and adventure. After Corsica was conquered, Grimir found himself being hunted by the Heimat navy. He later rescues Sanger and Selene's army after they were surrounded in Corsica's capital and subsequently joins their group after obtaining a large payment.
Jera 	Rune Mage 	N/A 	A mage from Corsica who is able to perform incredibly rare Rune Magic. Jera is a clever and brilliant individual who is almost always eager to learn. However, she hates having so much attention due to the huge expectations placed on her shoudlers due to her understanding of the ancient runes.
Sieba 	Dancer 	N/A 	A young woman originally from Heimat that worked for a traveling show as a dancer. At some point in the past, she was rescued by Indra who had mistaken her for Rani. This rescue to caused her to develop feelings for the swordsman and decided to follow him on his journey. Her dances have been noted to be magical in nature, despite Sieba not knowing any magic whatsoever.
Volga 	Fighter 	N/A 	A lumberer originally from Heimat and the brother of Solovey. After the forest were he worked burned down he became a caravan guard. He is hotblooded, loud and likes to drink. Often has to have Solovey bail him out of situations. Despite his skill in fighting, he would rather go back to lumbering.
Solovey 	Fighter 	N/A 	A lumberer originally from Heimat and the brother of Volga. After the forest were he worked burned down he became a caravan guard. Unlike his brother, he is cool headed and tends to be more rational with his decisions and more often then not, has to bail Volga out of situations. Unlike his brother, Solovey wishes to continue his life as a mercenary, finding the life more exciting then being a lumberer.
Vedmak 	Hexer 	N/A 	A specially trained soldier from Heimat known as a Hexer. While the Hexer order largely remained independent, due to declining membership and resources, they allied themselves with Emperor Rudel. While Vedmak initially supported this decision, he eventually defected due to Heimat's increasingly ruthless tactics. Vedmak has a strong sense of justice, which will cause him to even fight former friends and allies (albeit reluctantly) if he believes what they are doing is wrong.
Macha 	Divine Dragon 	N/A 	A divine dragon from the dragon kingdom of Sihai. Despite her country's policy of non-interference, she left her home after finding out that multiple younger manaketes are assisting Emperor Rudel in his conquest. Seeks to reform Sihai's policies and for humans and dragons to coexist.
Rani 	Priestess 	N/A 	A priestess and seer from the mysterious Ogham. She is a caring and generous individual who is willing to help those in need even if it would inconvenience her. Due to Ogham's isolationist policy and her occupation, Rani is incredibly naive and lacks an understanding of other cultures, which often gets her in trouble. She left her home and life behind to prevent a prophecy she divined from coming true, breaking Ogham's laws in the process.
Indra 	Myrmidon 	N/A 	A swordsman from Ogham. He is the protector of Rani and was ordered by Ogham's elders to bring her back to the island. Cares little for other people, but is willing to listen to Rani even if it means disobeying the elders orders.
All 45 playable characters are recruited in various ways. Many characters are recruited automatically as the story progresses, while others are done through visiting a village on specific chapters. Other characters are more tricky to recruit and may require special conditions such as talking to them with a specific character or by purchasing their services with gold.
===Major Non-Playable Characters===
==Chapters==
Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness/Chapters
==Classes==
Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness/Classes
==Downloadable Content==
There are currently two sets of DLC planned. The first set will feature maps that expand on character's relations with one another as well as provide items that grant access to alternative classes. The second set will be more story based and will focus on Emperor Rudel's past.
==Trivia==
*Fire Emblem: Child of Darkness is Frostfire's first game developed and first Fire Emblem game.
*Irish, Slavic and Mesopotamian mythology contribute to many of the names found in the game.
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