Fire Emblem Fates: A change of heart

"I'm definitely not going to purchase the special edition of Fire Emblem Fates."

This had been my resolve for a couple of weeks, ever since I learnt that there would indeed be a special edition of the trilogy. I was starting to feel seriously burnt out after having bought a slew of Specials in december and january, and the utter fiasco of the North-American launch of the special edition of Fates further convinced me to avoid the thing entirely. I didn't want to have to deal with shortages, scalpers and ridiculously high prices, and I made a resolution of purchasing Birthright and Conquest only and leave it at that.

However, I went through a volte-face a couple of days ago, when it suddenly dawned on me that this special edition of Fates was totally meeting my ultimate criterion for must-have Specials. This criterion is none other than the inclusion of something that is bound to enhance the gameplay and/or add to it, and the special edition of Fates perfectly fits the bill by adding a third game to the initial pair. And since this special edition is also the only planned physical release of said third game Revelations, it would also fully serve the perennity purpose that is so primordial in my collecting.

Although I fully saw the wisdom of getting my paws on a special edition of Fates after I experienced that 180, I still felt a modicum of reluctance at the thought of jumping on my keyboard and making a purchase right away. I envisioned the bank account-wrenching prices, the struggle to find an online seller that stocked the thing, and I felt a pang of resentment and anger towards Nintendo for yet again blundering the release of a special edition and making things so hard for collectors. Did they really deserve my money, when they so obviously failed to listen to their customers and meet the demand for that special edition of Fates? After grudgingly mulling over the issue for a little while, I realized that what Nintendo deserved or not was of no interest in that context. What mattered was what I deserved; and as a devoted collector, I fully deserved a copy of that special edition of Fates.

With that, my decision was made. I connected to Play-Asia and looked for the now coveted special edition; and lo and behold, they offered the Australian version for $120. This made me stall a trifle, as I was getting tired of forking out huge amounts for Specials. However, a quick calculation revealed that this was actually a fair price, since it amounted to the price of the European versions of the three games bought separately; and considering that the special edition also included feelies, this was really not too far from being a bargain. I still hesitated a little though, and thought about giving myself an extra day to ponder the matter; however, I finally decided against it and purchased Fates on the same day.

This was a most inspired decision, because a mere 24 hours later, that much-coveted special edition was out of stock. Just one day later, folks! I cannot believe how incredibly lucky I was to manage to snatch a copy before it was too late, and I will certainly enjoy my special edition of Fates with a lot of gratitude. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!