Nintendo announces Fire Emblem Heroes, its newest mobile game

Nintendo has announced Fire Emblem: Heroes, its next mobile game.

A new entry in the historic Fire Emblem series, the game features a variety of characters from past titles . The title will launch on Android on February 2nd and later to iOS devices.

Featuring a simplified take on the Fire Emblem formula, players control their army on an 8×6 grid using touch controls.

While the game is free-to-play, players can obtain characters by paying for orbs which give them a chance to earn additional characters — the mechanic here is similar to Gacha machines in Japan. However, those same characters can also be earned through gameplay, and the series’ signature permadeath mechanic isn’t present in Heroes — if a hero dies during battle, they return after its completion. Other familiar elements like the weapon triangle also make their return.

The next Nintendo franchise set to come to mobile devices is Animal Crossing. Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first major mobile title, release last month.