Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which got an honorable mention on my Top 5 Games I Played in 2019 list since I’ve only beaten one route so far, also has a DLC Expansion Pass available for $24.99.

The first three waves of DLC have added new costumes, more activities, and similar things, but the fourth was announced as story DLC. Yesterday, it was finally revealed to be a side story called “Cindered Shadows” with a February 13 release date.

Cindered Shadows deals with a “secret fourth house” known as the Ashen Wolves, students who are apparently living under the monastery. This led to a lot of speculation about whether this would be a full route or if the Ashen Wolves would simply be recruited into your house after you played their story.

Nintendo Japan has now cleared up some of these questions. As translated by Serenes Forest, you will not encounter the Cindered Shadows storyline as part of a normal playthrough. It is a separate option from the main menu, with its own save files.

However, due to data mining, it is believed that completing the side story will allow you to recruit the new characters in the main game, as well.

Cindered Shadows will also deviate from the normal teaching/activities/battle gameplay cycle, although they didn’t specify how, and the battles will be more difficult than those in the main game. You will also be given a set team, without the ability to recruit other characters.

There’s still a lot we don’t know about Cindered Shadows and how it will fit into the plot, but at least some things are clearer now. I haven’t actually bought the Expansion Pass, but if this side story is good enough, maybe it will sway me.

In the meantime, I’ll get back to slowly working through my second playthrough. What do you think of the Cindered Shadows DLC and what we’ve learned so far?