She's--I mean, IT'S alive!

[waltzoid]

After two months of silence following the first Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes reveal at February's Nintendo Direct, a new trailer dropped literally this morning (search Nintendo's YouTube channel for "Mysterious Mercenary") with some gameplay footage and more information on what to expect from the game.

• Our purple-haired protagonist is named Shez, and according to Nintendo of Japan's Twitter account, they're seeking revenge on Byleth (who apparently never joined the Officers Academy in this continuity) for defeating them during one of their missions. They've also got a Sothis-like entity assisting(?) them, named Arvan*.
• At the very least, the three lords and their retainers (Edelgard and Hubert, Dimitri and Dedue, and Claude and Hilda) are returning as playable characters. I also noticed Mercedes and Lorenz in some non-combat scenes, so they're probably playable, too.
• The redhead from the earlier trailer is, in fact, Monica. And what's more...she apparently has a Crest in this continuity? Hmm...

My enthusiasm for this game just jumped an unspecified, but healthy-sized, percentage. I wonder if we'll get any more surprises in the next two weeks?

* Arvan isn't named in the English trailer, but there's a chance it might change a bit.

Comments

[sarajayechan]

I can't wait to see Monica's actual personality compared to Kronya's take on her.

[waltzoid]

I'd rather not speculate, but I'm sure the contrast will be interesting to behold.

[lilythelitten]

I’m not sure whether or not it’s too early to speculate, but I just watched the trailer and…

Arvan’s design gives me villain vibes.

Like, we’ve barely seen them, and I’m already thinking “this is a villain”. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and all, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do turn out to be evil.

…Shez looks kinda villain-y too, now that I think about it. Either I’m reading too much into this or our player character may be dooming Fódlan.

EDIT: A Discord friend of mine pointed out that the symbol on Arvan’s chest sort of resembles TWSITD. Which…let me just… *starts blaring Villain Alarm* ALERT! ALRRT! BAD GUY OFF THE PORT BOW!

[waltzoid]

If that does turn out to be the case, it wouldn't be the first time a mysterious entity who at first appeared to be an ally was manipulating the heroes for nefarious ends.

This was the big twist in Bravely Default (the original version is almost ten years old, so I don't feel guilty about revealing spoilers), where the fairy companion who's been imploring you to revive all the crystals is doing so to summon the world-devouring Big Bad.