Fire Emblem is no stranger to DLC at this point, as both Awakening and Fates featured a host of optional add-on content. Fates, in fact, featured a brand new story arc and campaign as DLC, helping to shed even more light on events. Fire Emblem Echoes, however, takes a new approach to the series’ DLC offerings, making a heftily-priced Season Pass available, that comes with a host of add-ons.
So far the DLC the game has received has added on challenging new maps, new class changes, or dungeons to explore. It’s all been serviceable, but there’s been nothing so far that seems necessary to play, outside of wanting some stronger classes and easier chances for money and experience, of course. That all changes with the latest story-focused DLC pack, however, which isn’t necessary for understanding the story in Fire Emblem Echoes, unlike Fates, but adds on some interesting character development and unique maps. In all “Rise of the Deliverance” will take you one to two hours at most to beat, but it’s a good example of how Fire Emblem DLC should work.
The Deliverance pack adds on four new maps to Fire Emblem Echoes, each of which come with fully-voiced dialogue and story segments. The add-on takes place before the start of the main game, as the Kingdom of Zofia falls to a coup and Clive creates the resistance group known as The Deliverance. There’s actually a surprising amount of story content here, as the first three maps focus on different party members, before bringing them together for a final showdown in the fourth. Nothing in the DLC is going to shed a new light on the overall story of Echoes, but there’s some good moments with some of the most engaging characters of the game.
Even better, playing the four maps unlocks a few more Memory Prisms to view in Mila’s Turnwheel, each of which provide even more insight into characters, and show some really fun moments of interactions before the war broke out. The DLC makes one character in particular, Fernand original to the remake, much more likable and sympathetic in the grand scheme of things.
Even better, the four maps included in the pack are each unique little challenges to undertake. You don’t have access to your convoy of items, so all you get are a few pre-selected characters and items, and nothing more to save you. These maps include objectives like rushing into a castle to save allied units, before pulling your units out in a retreat. They’re short certainly, but interesting, and each one rewards you with a unique weapon.
It’s really great to get to see these characters again, and gain a little more context for the war that Alm stumbles his way into in the main game. Luckily, you can purchase Rise of the Deliverance separately without owning the Season Pass, and it’s easily the most engaging piece of DLC released for Fire Emblem Echoes yet. It’s also a much better option than Fate’s Revelation DLC, which was an entire campaign that was pretty much necessary for truly understanding the story.
There’s ample reward both in the way of gameplay and especially story, making it a worthwhile option for anyone even moderately interested in Echoes. Compact and self-contained story DLC is a perfect fit for Fire Emblem, and a great option to provide for fans. Hopefully, Nintendo and Intelligent Systems take note and do something similar for future installments in the series.
