Fire Emblem fans are getting 2 classics on Nintendo Switch—but with a 20-year catch

Nintendo is expanding the Switch’s retro offerings with another new Nintendo Switch Online game drop, bringing two classic Fire Emblem titles from the Game Boy Advance to the console. Despite this, only one of the games will be widely available, while the other maintains a 20-year lock that has fans of the franchise wishing for a re-roll. 

In the latest addition to the NSO + Expansion Pack premium subscription tier, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade will be playable on the system’s GBA menu on June 23. 

Despite being the seventh game in the series, The Blazing Blade was the first title ever officially localized for international audiences, released in North America simply as Fire Emblem in November 2003. This would spark continuous international releases for the franchise up through Fire Emblem: Awakening, which would bring the series to mainstream levels of popularity in Nintendo’s IP library in 2011. 

While The Blazing Blade is the first game from the series English audiences likely played, it is a prequel to Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade released in March 2002. 

This is notable because Roy made his Fire Emblem debut in The Binding Blade after he appeared in 2001’s Super Smash Bros. Melee alongside Marth. The inclusion of both characters in Melee led to their own franchise gaining increased popularity in the West, eventually leading to the localization of The Blazing Blade. 

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Despite these two stories being directly linked, sharing a world and multiple characters, the prequel has still never been localized outside of Japan. That also makes Roy the only Fire Emblem character featured in Smash to not have their first game localized—as long as you count Marth getting the DS remake of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light in 2008.

The reason this is so disheartening is, while all regions will get access to The Blazing Blade, Japan is also getting The Binding Blade on NSO on June 23. 

So here we sit, more than 20 years after The Binding Blade’s release, still waiting for an official Nintendo localization. Just like most Japanese-only Fire Emblem properties, there is a very well-done fan translation that was created, but it is not readily available for anyone who simply wants to experience the game for themselves legally. 

Fans are still hoping that the duology of classic titles will eventually get the Echoes: Shadows of Valentia treatment with a full remake on modern consoles, especially since it has been over six years since the series last revisited an older release. That is something to keep hoping for in the future, but for now, all the “Roy’s our boy!” chanters still can’t play his game in English.