Fire Emblem Fates

Ordered Special Edition from Game, which arrived today.

The way the game is being sold does irk me somewhat though.  Essentially, once you reach a certain point in the game, the story branches and which way it goes depends on which version you buy, Birthright (which sees you support one side) or Conquest (you support the other).  The version you don't buy can be purchased as DLC for £17.99.  There's a third DLC coming soon as well, Revelation, which offers a third alternative path.  

I'm all for replay value, but in essence, this would result in paying nearly £70 for a 3DS game, which is ridiculous, especially when you consider than if you were to sell the game on the second buyer would only have the base game, none of the DLC.

Or, you can be as equally ridiculous as I was, and buy the now-sold-out Special Edition for £70 anyway, which has all three versions on one cartridge, including Revelation, which isn't released for a few weeks yet in DLC form.  Plus, I'm a sucker for nice things.

Hopefully the game will offer the same kind of replay value that Awakening did so that substantial outlay can start to feel a bit more justified.

I guess that nintendo survey was accurate when it said would you be willing to spend £70 on a game.

A lot of people assumed they were talking about if prices including DLC were part of that. But this system seems like thats the price of getting the full game, cheeky bastards. Nintendo are turning into bigger and bigger dicks each year.

Even the Special Edition doesn't include the DLC, of which the first few map packs are now trickling through. Or, you can buy the 1st season (or "map pack") of DLC for another £17. There are two seasons of DLC currently planned, and while they're both pretty generous in terms of content it does mean that if you want to see everything Fire Emblem Fates has to offer it's going to cost you.

Base game £34.99 + second path 17.99 + 3rd path (Revelations) 17.99 + Map Pack 1 17.99 + Map pack 2 17.99 (assuming it's priced the same as the 1st).

That lot comes to a shade under £107.

Now, it could be argued - and quite rightly, it has to be said - that you could just buy the base version of your choice and there's more than enough content to not feel short changed. However, Fire Emblem fans are a pretty passionate bunch, and I'd wager at least half will end up buying all three paths as a bare minimum. The game is fantastic, obviously, but the way it's being packaged does feel somewhat grotesque.