As 2022 approaches the end, here’s a look back at some key Fire Emblem events that happened this year.
I’m unsure how many people noticed, but I ended up skipping the retrospective for 2021 because not a lot happened that year. Thankfully 2022 was a lot more eventful!
To begin with, a scale figure of female Byleth from the 2019-released Three Houses was revealed in mid-January. This wouldn’t be the only new piece of Three Houses merchandise, by far.
Next, during early February, the annual Choose Your Legends vote was held for FE Heroes.
The winners were Chrom and Tiki from Awakening, followed by Seliph from Genealogy and, funnily enough, female Byleth.
Around the same time, a memorial box was announced to celebrate the 5th anniversary of FE Heroes. Wow, has it really been around that long? Hmm, mildly jealous of those who got the Feh plush…
Fans were waiting for news of a new game for aaaaages and during the February Nintendo Direct, we finally got something!
OK, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes wasn’t a mainline Fire Emblem game, but it was nice to return to Fódlan under a different perspective. The game came out on 24th June 2022.
A month later, fans could look forward to some of their favourite Three Houses characters in plush form, courtesy of Sanei. These also came out in June, just in time for Three Hopes!
During April Fool’s, Intelligent System announced some Three Houses tea themed merchandise. The joke? It was actually real! The merchandise was so popular they had to restock it.
A few days later, they released the actual April Fool’s gag… I think?
Nearing the release of Three Hopes, we received the sad news that Billy Kametz, who voiced Ferdinand in Three Houses and Three Hopes had passed away from cancer. We hope you’re in a better place now, Billy.
Around mid-June, more Three Houses merchandise was revealed: Pop Up Parade figures for Edelgard and Bernadetta, alongside news that Dimitri, Felix, Claude and Lysithea would also be receiving figures.
At the start of September, Castle Conversations returned, featuring Joe Zieja (voice of Claude etc.) and Erica Mendez (voice of Bernadetta etc.). The Japanese equivalent, Fire Emblem Roundtable has been going strong too; it’s up to the 5th volume thus far.
A few days later, scale figures of Roy and Lilina from the Binding Blade were announced. The game celebrated its 20th anniversary during March.
Intelligent Systems made good on their promise of releasing figures for characters new and old!
Boom, on 13th September, a brand new Fire Emblem was announced at the beginning of the Nintendo Direct.
Known as Fire Emblem Engage, it’s the first new game since 2019 and Intelligent System’s first new game since 2017 (or 2015 if you don’t count remakes). It’ll be releasing on 20th January 2023, around 3 weeks from the time of this post.
Needless to say, I’ve been extremely busy covering the game pre-release (fun fact: between 15th November and 28th December, every weekday, there was something new to write about).
Later on, during late November, a scale figure of Veronica from FE Heroes was added to the line up. She was a key figure in Book VI of Heroes and has always been a popular character.
Near the end of November, the Three Hopes original soundtrack was announced. Although many fans were holding out hope for DLC, this seemed to suggest no DLC was coming. Plus with FE Engage just around the corner, it doesn’t really make sense for Three Hopes DLC.
Early December, the next arc of FE Heroes was revealed: Book VII, taking place in Vanaheimr, the realm of light. Teaming up with Seiðr, the Order of Heroes are up against a sorceress who can control time. Yoshiku, who drew the characters for Book IV, returned for this book.
Finally, around mid-December, an Expansion Pass was announced for FE Engage at the Game Awards. The first wave introduces the House Leaders and Tiki as summonable Emblems. Overall, it seems to be similar in scope to the Three Houses expansion pass.
That about covers everything. Hopefully there was something that interested you this year!
