Nintendo Switch Online is still lacking the classicFire Emblemgames for the Game Boy Advance, and it may not have a better chance to fix that than the present.Fire Emblemis a long-running series that has earned a lot of acclaim, going from a fairly niche title to one of Nintendo’s top-tier IPs. DespiteFire Emblem’s impressive rise, it is still relatively hard to access some of the series' most classic games despite their status in the series. Nintendo Switch Online can fix this, but the best time for this move may be fleeting.
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Engage Paved A Perfect Path For Fire Emblem’s GBA Trilogy To Come To NSO
It has been revealed thatFire Emblem: The Blazing Bladewill be joiningNintendo Switch Online’s Game Boy Advance libraryin the near future. While this is good news for the game, it also leaves the other two games inFire Emblem’s GBA trilogy unaccounted for. What makes this especially puzzling is thatThe Blazing Bladewas the second game in the trilogy, betweenThe Binding BladeandThe Sacred Stones. AlthoughThe Blazing Bladereleasing first does make sense due to it featuring the highly popular Lyn and being a prequel toThe Binding Blade, something is missing without all three games represented.
The biggest argument for releasing the fullFire EmblemGBA trilogy on NSO isFire Emblem Engage. TheEmblems ofFire Emblem Engageare all characters from pastFire Emblemtitles, either protagonists or other important characters. Every major game in the series is represented, including the Game Boy Advance games. WithFire Emblem Engage’s main gimmick running off of nostalgia, it provides a perfect reason to bring back the Game Boy AdvanceFire Emblemgames. SinceEngageis already bringing memories of those games back by featuring their characters, letting players play the games themselves is the next logical step.
Even beforeFire Emblem Engageis taken into account, there is already good reason forFire Emblem’s GBA trilogy to resurface. The preceding game, 2019’sacademy-themedFire Emblem: Three Houseswas a major success, even gaining its own spin-off in the secondFire Emblem Warriorsgame,Three Hopes. That combined with the ongoingFire Emblem Heroesgacha game shows that the series is at a high point.Engageonly added more fuel to the fire by spotlighting the series' past. Considering what a good last few years the series has had, it may be more surprising that NSO’s initial GBA library didn’t include anyFire Emblemtitles.
Fire Emblemis at a peak that it may not see again for years, particularly in terms of nostalgia, so releasing the GBA titles soon could provide aboost to Nintendo Switch Online’s momentum. Players have just recently gotten a glimpse at the heroes of those games, so releasing their adventures to the players would make sense. After all,Engagemanaged to charge the fan base with these memories, but that rekindled interest likely won’t last forever. BringingFire Emblem’s Game Boy Advance titles to NSO whileEngageis still in mind would ensure that they would draw interest.
Fire Emblem Engageis available now for the Nintendo Switch.
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