Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia - soundtrack samples, more screens/art, new info on gameplay

- Alm is described as the young man that believes in Power
- Celica is more of a religious person that believes in God.
- story tells the tale of those two childhood friends, their intertwined fates, and their journey throughout the Valentia continent
- takes place on the continent of Valentia, with the Nigel Empire in the North, and the Kingdom of Zofia in the South
- both countries worship different gods, the peace between the two is fragile, and is on the verge of collapsing…
- Alm and Celica have the same strange mark on their hand
- due to various reasons, they ended up separated
- as the flames of wars suddenly engulf the continent, they are in each other’s mind
- the two go on a journey in order to stop the war, and bring back peace to the Valentia continent.

Timeline:

3000 years before the game: one day, Duma and Mila (sibling gods) go to war, and after an arduous battle, they divide the continent in two: the North (ruled by Duma), and the south (ruled by Mila). They also pledge never to invade each other;
Year 1: a sage with knowledge of the celestial bodies’ motions go see Mila, and shows her the calendar system he came up with. The goddess approves of her calendar, and that year is chosen as the first year of that calendar;
Year 189: the Rigel Empire is established in the North, and the Kingdom of Zofia is established in the South;
Year 374: the young Rudolf is appointed as successor of Rigel III, the Emperor of the Rigel Empire, and ascends as Emperor Rudolf I;
Year 384: King Lima III dies, and his eldest son, Lima IV, is crowned. Unfortunately, he has little interest in politics, and so Desaix becomes Chancellor;
Year 398: due to poor harvest, the food reserves of the Rigel Empire are running low. They turn to Zofia for help, but to no avail. Rudolf I then chose to invade Zofia, leading the troops himself, and so the two countries are plunged into war;
Year 399: the Zofian army is pretty inexperienced, and so they are repeatedly routed by the overwhelming forces of the Rigel Empire. At the same time, said forces are creeping even further into the Eofia Kingdom. Desaix manages to contact the leaders of the Rigel Empire army, and manages to negotiate a cease-fire in exchange for a large sum of gold. The war ends, but the Rigel Empire arm remains stationed in the North of the Zofia Kingdom, and tensions continue to grow;
Year 400: Desaix launches a coup d’état, and the various members of the royal family are assassinated one after the other (including Lima IV). That’s when the Deliverance, a group that opposes Desaix, is establish by the nobility, with Clive as its leader.

Characters

Alm (voiced by Natsuki Hanae). Starting class: Fighter. He was raised in Ram Village on the borders of the Zofia Kingdom, together with Celica. Trained by his grandfather Mycen, he has developed a formidable sword arm. Because of his strong sense of justice and desire to show off his strength, he volunteers to join the Zofian Liberation Army to combat the Rigelian Empire.
Gray (voiced by Kishou Taniyama). Starting class: Villager. One of Alm’s childhood friends, also from Ram Village. He’s the son of a merchant. He ends up joining the Zofian Liberation Army;
Tobin (Atsushi Abe). Starting class: Villager. Another of Alm’s childhood friends, from Ram Village. He’s the eldest son in a large family, and joins the Zofian Liberation Army so he can get money for his family. He’s a pretty straightforward and serious person;
Kliff (Mitsuki Saiga). Starting class: Villager. Another of Alm’s childhood friends, from Ram Village. Pretty fond of reading and History, he learned to speak at a pretty young age. He joins the Zofian Liberation Army in order to learn more about the world;
Effie (voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki). Starting class: Villager. Another of Alm’s childhood friends, from Ram Village. She’s always been pretty fond of him, from a pretty young age. She joins the Zofian Liberation Army in order to be with him;
Lukas (voiced by Takahiro Sakurai). Starting class: Soldier. A member of the Zofian Liberation Army, and the son of an aristocrat. He’s the one who recruits Alm;
Silque (voiced by Yuka Inokuchi). Starting class: Cleric. Alm rescues her from a band of thieves, who kidnapped her. She’s the one who gives him the Mila’s Gear. She accompanies him on his hourney;
Clive (voiced by Hiroshi Kamiya). Starting class: Cavalier. Leader of the Zofian Liberation Army, and a member of the aristocracy. He was originally a Knight of the Order of Zophia, but he left to found the liberation army following Desaix’s coup d’état;
Celica (voiced by Nao Touyama). Starting class: Priestess. The other main character of the game. She spent her childhood days with Alm, but afterwards left Ram Village for some reason and lived at Novis Monastery as a Priestess. After having an ominous dream about Alm–and to uncover the truth behind the large number of strange happenings across the Kingdom of Zofia–she begins a journey to the Temple of Mila
Mae (voiced by Eri Inagawa). Starting class: Mage. A mage from the Novis Monastery. She’s Celica’s servant, but also her close friend. She accompanies her on her journey to the Mila Temple;
Boey (voiced by Takuma Saski). Starting class: Mage. Another mage from the Novis Monastery. Just like Mae (her childhood friend), she’s Celica’s servant, and she accompanies them in their journey to the Mila Temple;
Genny (voiced by Yuki Horinaka). Starting class: Cleric. A sister from the Novis Monastery, and Celica’s younger sister. She accompanies her on her journey to the Mila Temple;
Saber (voiced by Takehito Koyasu). Starting class: Mercenary. He used to be a soldier of the Rigel Empire, but he’s now a mercenary from Novis. He’s paid to act as Celica’s bodyguard;
Valbar (voiced by Takahiro Fujiwara). Starting class: Knight. A former soldier who pledged to get revenge on Dahha, who killed his family.
Leon (voied by Kouji Takahashi). Starting class: Archer. A beautiful young man, and a former soldier who accompanies Valbar (that he considers like his brother). He’s a very honest person, who simply cannot lie;
Kamui (voiced by Shuhei Matsuda). Starting class: Mercenary. He comes from a faraway country, and was hired by Valbar to help him get his revenge. A pretty generous person, who loves freedom.

Systems

- follow both Alm and Celica’s route, which is not the same
- navigate on the world map freely, and battle against enemy forces you meet on the way
- defeat them in order to capture points, which in turns allows you to get experience points
- recruit new characters for your army
- defeat all the enemy units on the field to win
- some weapons allows you to attack from a distance, such as bows