Fire Emblem If’s Third Story Route Will More Difficult Than White, But Less Than Black

Fire Emblem If is split into versions of White Kingdom and Black Kingdom, along with an entire third route that will be available via DLC. Intelligent Systems project manager Masahiro Higuchi and Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamagami shared more with 4Gamer on this third route.

The third route won’t have its own retail release like White Kingdom and Black Kingdom routes, and will be available at a later point via download. Considering that the two versions have their own difficulties, 4Gamer asks what will the difficulty of this third route be like.

“It’s a little difficult to make a general statement, but to put it simply, it will be somewhere in the middle between White Kingdom and Black Kingdom,” says Higuchi. “The most difficult of the three is the Black Kingdom route, but those who play White Kingdom should have no problem playing the third route.”

4Gamer mentions that if Black Kingdom is that difficult, it sounds like it could be a little rough on players that are more interested in the story, rather than a challenge.

“In the case that it seems too tough, you’ll be able to lower the difficulty, even during the middle of the game,” says Higuchi.

“As mentioned earlier, Fire Emblem If isn’t something that you can’t fully enjoy without playing both routes,” adds Yamagami. “But please give it a go if you play one route and think ‘I want to play more!’. Both routes are very complete as far as the story goes.”

Finally, 4Gamer asks if it will be possible to have things such as StreetPass features between those who are playing the White Kingdom and Black Kingdom versions.

“Yes. Basically, those who are playing Fire Emblem If will get to StreetPass with others [who are also playing it]. We’re thinking of all kinds of different setups, so please look forward to it,” says Higuchi.

Fire Emblem If will release in Japan on June 25, 2015 for Nintendo 3DS, and sometime in 2016 for the West.