Fire Emblem fans have taken to Twitter to discuss, not the award-winning latest entry in the series (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) nor the plethora of characters (most recently Byleth) appearing in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate but… a mobile game rip-off?
That’s right! Glory Emblem, a “tactics and strategy” game featuring a suspicious resemblance to Fire Emblem’s own Heroes app, recently became available to download for mobile devices. The game features a similar plot to Heroes, in which players take on the role of an army leader and recruit various fighters to conquer territories and defeat the enemy forces.
However, the resemblance doesn’t stop there. Glory Emblem also features character sprites which are not simply inspired by Fire Emblem Heroes characters, but are blatantly edited or re-colored versions of them (images taken by Twitter user @Fierce_Counter, who played through the game and took a number of screenshots.)
For example, “Wendy” is a version of popular Blazing Blade protagonist Lyn, with an outfit that shows a lot more chest and leg than her inspiration’s.
Hi Wendy pic.twitter.com/b0FElT5WGv
— MOVED TO @CopyCatFat (@LavishCharms) August 13, 2020
Thunder mage Robinson accidentally refers to himself as “Reinhardt,” a character who is well-liked in Fire Emblem Heroes for his ability to deal large amounts of magic damage at once.
Robinson Reignhardt pic.twitter.com/MTHYa72ziM
— MOVED TO @CopyCatFat (@LavishCharms) August 13, 2020
This recolor of Path of Radiance’s Titania is referred to as “Raymond” during some parts of the game, and “marcia” (missing capital letter presumably unintentional) in others.
RAYMOND IN BOXES pic.twitter.com/PuM0R6nVmi
— MOVED TO @CopyCatFat (@LavishCharms) August 13, 2020
Perhaps most egregiously of all, “Lenard” is simply Awakening’s Lord character Chrom with bright red hair instead of his usual blue.
So much res pic.twitter.com/4KEjGmOSQq
— MOVED TO @CopyCatFat (@LavishCharms) August 13, 2020
Wait, no. This is the most egregious. “Monica” here hasn’t been edited at all – she’s a blatant copy of Fire Emblem Fates’ Felicia exactly as she appears in Heroes.
Okay you failed with this one. pic.twitter.com/bWJIUgqBJD
— MOVED TO @CopyCatFat (@LavishCharms) August 13, 2020
But blatantly stolen character sprites is far from Glory Emblem’s only problem. Skills, weapons and tutorial screens are also ripped from Heroes – in the latter, the app’s developers did not even bother to replace Fire Emblem characters such as Takumi and the Pegasus Sisters with their own edited version.
Learning pic.twitter.com/qeYN88FOTg
— MOVED TO @CopyCatFat (@LavishCharms) August 13, 2020
Character names range from the painfully normal “Keith” and “Harold” to the nearly unpronounceable likes of “Modigaza” and “Tovnbee”. Multiple characters spontaneously change names between appearances. The app’s text betrays a painful lack of proofreading. Poor grammar makes even the most basic of sentences a struggle to read, and a number of words are misspelled – for example, the “Butler” playable class is referred to almost exclusively as “Bulter”.
However, some Twitter users who downloaded Glory Emblem are surprised to find that it contains features which its obvious inspiration does not. Character models are slightly animated, with weapons swinging and long hair swaying in the breeze. This is in rather distinct contrast to Heroes’ completely static models. Players can join “Guilds” and communicate with each other via a global “Chat” function. Unfortunately, it does not seem as though anyone has progressed particularly far in Glory Emblem’s story mode, so it is not yet known whether it differs significantly from that of Heroes.
While Glory Emblem is currently available to download for mobile devices, it comes with a “Potentially Dangerous” warning. While it is not yet known why Apple and other app distributors have labeled it as such, mobile users are encouraged not to download Glory Emblem at this time. If you are interested in learning more about this new app, however, you can follow the game’s rather active Twitter tag for amusing discussion regarding its cast of characters.
Fire Emblem Heroes, on the other hand, is available for both iOS and Android devices. The app is currently in its fourth year of service, and is free to play.
What do you think about Glory Emblem? Which Fire Emblem Heroes rip-offs do you hope (or hope NOT) to see? Let us know!
