Fire Emblem’s upcoming DLC Cindered Shadows will let the house leaders from Three Houses put their differences aside as they face a common foe. In the base game, the three leaders of Fire Emblem: Three Houses are forced apart, leading to some bitter rivalries.
The Cindered Shadows DLC was announced last week, introducing a secret fourth house at Garreg Mach Monastery that’s remained conveniently out of sight until now. Dubbed the Ashen Wolves, the fourth house is a group of students without a teacher living in the shadowy underbelly of the monastery known as Abyss. The DLC’s announcement trailer listed it as a “side story” and the final piece of content for the Fire Emblem: Three Houses expansion pass.
New details about what exactly Cindered Shadows and the Ashen Wolves will bring to Three Houses have now been revealed. According to the Japanese Fire Emblem Twitter account, Cindered Shadows will be a significant departure from the base game, requiring players to stick with a limited party from start to finish rather than freely recruiting characters like in traditional Fire Emblem games. The selection of characters will include all three house leaders from Three Houses and four mysterious (and partially shirtless) characters from the Ashen Wolves. As Nintendo hinted at by calling it a side story, Cindered Shadows will take place during the main game’s timeline and be accessed through a separate save file, Eurogamer reports.
The trailer for Cindered Shadows debuted just after the announcement that Byleth of Fire Emblem: Three Houses was joining the cast of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Despite director Masahiro Sakurai’s excitement, the news left a lot of Smash Bros. fans cold, as the game already has its fair share of characters from the Fire Emblem canon, and earlier rumors pointed to more exciting possibilities like Devil May Cry’s Dante joining Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Cindered Shadows will shake up the Fire Emblem: Three Houses formula in some interesting ways, but it remains to be seen how fans will react to the new direction. Recruiting new characters and spending time with them at the monastery were some of the most well received parts of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and part of what made it one of the best games of 2019, so cutting them out of the DLC is a risky move. Hopefully the new team of subterranean ruffians will be interesting enough to make up for the loss.
Next: Fire Emblem: Three Houses Removes Problematic Byleth Voice Actor
Cindered Shadows will be available February 13, 2020 as part of the Fire Emblem: Three Houses expansion pass on Nintendo Switch.
Source: Fire Emblem/Twitter, Eurogamer
