This month’s major update for Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes (Free) has arrived, and it adds a much-requested feature to the game. While the core of the Fire Emblem series is the strategic combat system, it seems to be just as popular these days for the relationships that can be built between characters. In recent entries, these relationships are expressed through mini scenarios that tell some kind of story about the two characters. The debut of the support system in the third Fire Emblem game, however, only took the form of statistical advantages when certain characters were put together on the battlefield. Well, Fire Emblem Heroes now has a support system, but it’s a bit closer to the one in that earlier entry than what fans of newer games may be familiar with.

There are two kinds of supports you can create with your characters. Ally Support lets you pair up any two characters. When those two characters are near each other on the battlefield, they’ll gain stat bonuses. As their relationship strengthens, those stat bonuses will increase. Sadly, there are no conversations between characters, but you do get a cute animation when you pair them up. Summoner Support allows you to designate one (and only one at any given time) character as your favorite, granting them special bonuses at all times. You can build the relationship levels in both types of supports by deploying units together in battle against enemies of level 35 and up.

The other main addition in this update is a search function for Inherit Skills, making it easier to find the particular trait you’re looking for. The rest of the improvements include a score for defense in Arena Assault mode, the ability to easily check the names of your teams, and settings to turn off map and auto animations. All in all, a decent update, but I’m not sure the support system is exactly what people were hoping for. Granted, with the number of characters in the game even rudimentary conversations would be a logistical nightmare, but hey, we can hope.