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...Will this be the last game?


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...It's a legit question.

I found myself worrying yesterday if some of the features that attracted me to Fire Emblem Awakening would be taken out of Fire Emblem IF.

Now, mind you this is MY opinion, and I'm aware of the loads of hate Awakening receives, due to the lack of story, and how compared to past installments of the series, it kinda strayed away from its usual way.

But I couldn't get enough of having multitudes of Supports. I learned more about these characters I controlled, and I was able to feel like they were more than soldiers because of it. I genuinely wanted to help them to see their cause, and I still play the game with precise care the moment I'm typing this.

I loved the idea of an Avatar, a character that was PART of the story. A bad story, I'll admit, but a story nonetheless. The idea you could have children, a spouse, and see them inherit things from you, whether it be skills, or hair colors... I liked it.

And then there's DLC and Skirmishes. Ways of grinding, that kept the game interesting, and I could prepare for the ultimate chapters and challenges.

This stuff compelled me to take a glimpse at Fire Emblem Awakening, and I couldn't tear my eyes away because of it.

But I worry now, because it's clear that the game is near complete. Coming out sometime this Summer (Correct me if I'm wrong?) and the look of the game being so... Filling, I have no reason to suspect they will change much.

I've looked when they slowly gave Info about Awakening. How Vaike, Stahl, and Sully had generic models for their sprites.

We don't see this now.

There's ACTUAL characters now, great animations, and it seems they've got some sort of Story going.

What my point is...

This game looks like a good bulk is done. The main bulk. Awakening was made with the idea that it was the last in the series, correct? And because of that, they worked their rears off to make Awakening great. And it payed off. Nintendo looks like it values the series, that they put their faith in FE once again, and I couldn't be happier, as within a year this series became my favorite, and I'm ashamed that's because of a simple FE game like Awakening.

But... If they work with this mindset of, "This is just another game," this game... Will certainly fall from Awakening's standards. And that's what got so many people on board in the first place: Awakening was a vanilla like Fire Emblem game. Not too much, weapon or class-wise was introduced.

So my question here is: Will they work with the mindset of this being the "last" in the series... Or will this be a cheap-Awakening cash-in?

(Sorry it was so long! >_< Had this on my mind awhile)

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Its a good question. I think you'll find that you're not the only thinking this. I for one have given this much thought. I for one loved the hell out of Awakening even as a long time fan of the series it added alot that I enjoyed and the presentation is the best in the series. That being said I think all of us here knew that they would take the Awakening approach (at least in terms of art style and gameplay mechanics). Why would they not? The game saved the series, sold extremely well, and was lauded as exceptional by pretty much every game review site.

My opinion. I think it will be fine. While the series isn't threated like it was with Awakening its still not totally safe. Having one game sell extremely well and the others after it do like crap would likely, no most certainly mean the end of the series. I think IS and Fire Emblem have really begun to hit their stride and its been a long time coming. Just look at how much Nintendo is pushing Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem related items (amiibos, DLC, smash reveals etc). Hell they even started their first direct of the year with a new Fire Emblem game. That alone should say something. While I enjoyed the story of Awakening (you can flog me later) I think they listened to fans about the story part going as far to hire someone from a notable magna series (and presumably got rid of the previous story writer). Fire Emblem while by no means safe, is in a good position right now to capitalize on their success and secure their spot in Nintendo's catalogue among other heavy hitters like Zelda and Mario. I think IS realizes this and will not let this opportunity get away from them.

Edited by TacoMan42
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Also, Awakening came out, what, 2011 or something? I remember when FEs came out once a year (FE7-FESS-PoR-FERD). This is child's play

2012 for Japan, 2013 for the rest of the world. Close enough though.

Edited by Jedi
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Its a legit question but i think because of Awakenings success the formula on if there will be another game in the series has change a bit as has how any new game will be approached:

Its pretty well documented that if awakening did badly then it would be the last Fire Emblem game (excluding a franchise reboot many years later a la Kid Icarus). The sales of previous titles had been a little underwhelming to the point where Shadow Dragon's sequel for the DS didn't make the trip outside of Japan - presumably because someone thought it was not a cost effective thing to do. The brand name wasn't pulling in the numbers so before they ok'd awakening the IS team was told that this would be the last Fire Emblem game if it didn't perform well

Awakening kinda blew it out of the water with (i think) series topping sales and universal critical acclaim (92-ish metacritic and game rankings). Not only did this do the brand good by opening it up to new people but it also gave Nintendo a bit of good news to talk about with something that isn't Mario or Zelda. Awakening also did a pretty good job of shifting new 3DS consoles which is what the publisher was after in the first place so it kept everyone involved happy. But it was a near miss, the series did nearly come to an end.

I think the Dev's who have lived this process know how close the series came to being kicked, they were closer to the events than any of us so they are likely more emotionally invested in its success I would rather hope that would mean the same care and attention they took to developing Awakening will be carried over into the new title, also (hopefully) Nintendo will get behind the game like they did with Awakening and market it rather than just letting it come out and hoping for the best. Maybe 4 or 5 games down the line that wont be the case, but for now i think we are in good hands.

Just my opinion of course.

Edited by Merric
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The game is using the same engine as Awakening it looks, so no need to build from ground up

Meaning production won't take as long

Also, Awakening came out, what, 2011 or something? I remember when FEs came out once a year (FE7-FESS-PoR-FERD). This is child's play

And FE6 for those in Japan a year before FE7, to add to that combo!

I'm sure there's not much to worry about for the game. Generally the second iterations on a console have more refined mechanics and fix some o the issues that were in the previous installment (FE6 --> 7, FE9--> 10, FE11 --> 12), so maybe we'll see something like that here.

That being said, what there is to "fix" is relative, purely based on opinion. It seems they're aiming for story which they had heard least favorable things about, and then adding challenges (hopefully in the form of varied map objectives).

Here's hoping the fans of FE13 go into FE14, and if things did change gameplay wise (such as lack of whatever mechanic they liked previously), that they stick with it to show their support regardless, I guess!

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This won't be the last game. Awakening sold well enough that even if this tanks, they'll still do at least one more.

They wanted 250,000 sales on Awakening to make another game and got over one million sales. Soooo we're good for 4 or 5 more games from that? :P

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Its a good question. I think you'll find that you're not the only thinking this. I for one have given this much thought. I for one loved the hell out of Awakening even as a long time fan of the series it added alot that I enjoyed and the presentation is the best in the series. That being said I think all of us here knew that they would take the Awakening approach (at least in terms of art style and gameplay mechanics). Why would they not? The game saved the series, sold extremely well, and was lauded as exceptional by pretty much every game review site.

My opinion. I think it will be fine. While the series isn't threated like it was with Awakening its still not totally safe. Having one game sell extremely well and the others after it do like crap would likely, no most certainly mean the end of the series. I think IS and Fire Emblem have really begun to hit their stride and its been a long time coming. Just look at how much Nintendo is pushing Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem related items (amiibos, DLC, smash reveals etc). Hell they even started their first direct of the year with a new Fire Emblem game. That alone should say something. While I enjoyed the story of Awakening (you can flog me later) I think they listened to fans about the story part going as far to hire someone from a notable magna series (and presumably got rid of the previous story writer). Fire Emblem while by no means safe, is in a good position right now to capitalize on their success and secure their spot in Nintendo's catalogue among other heavy hitters like Zelda and Mario. I think IS realizes this and will not let this opportunity get away from them.

We still have to keep in mind that this year is FE's 25th anniversary and that could be why FE is getting so much attention lately. It's also the 10th anniversary of Ike and his first game, and Ike is a popular Smash character. All in all, both Marth and Ike have notable anniversaries this year. All of this could stop as soon as the year ends. But a nice anniversary celebration definitely could help FE get the attention it so well deserves and a spot among the top Ninty franchises, so I certainly hope you're right here. ^^

If this game sells well enough, I don't see the series ending anytime soon. No way.

Year of Fire Emblem plz Nintendo. :D (partly kidding)

Edited by Anacybele
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Intelligent system is a real important part of Nintendo and FE is Int sys favorite/dearest franchise.

Everytime they make a game they wonder how to get the game done while keeping the essence of FE in the game. And as long as they keep thinking like that I will believe Int sys will deliver a game I will proudly play.

On your main concerns tho. Yes Nintendo does care for FE because is Int sys favorite franchise. There have been many time Int sys and Nintendo have discussed about how to make FE sell more (I.E. removing perma death). You can see this in their interviews for past FE games. Shadow dragon Iwata ask is my favorite because Sakurai made that interview!

When you say you feel ashamed of a simple game like FE:A... I for one am proud of that game and you should be too! for multiples of reasons! From saving the franchise, having most content of any FE game so far (chapters, skills, fanservice, supports, they really went all out with this one), they even got legacy characters to sparkle new fans curiosity on those who were the stars of past games.

I am not gonna force you to be proud about it, but there are more reasons to love it and be proud of it than feel shame for little hardcore reasons (balancing issues).

I can see why would you fear devs think "This is gonna be just another entry" but following awakening success... if us fans were so happy that it did not die... I hope they are happy to make another FE game! and hope they still dream on making a return to home consoles like in FE10 interview by making this game an appropiate sequel.

IMO Awakening had the most groundbreaking change in the series... pair up! I cannot what kind of hell they went to actually push this overpowered feature in game and the balance needed to keep up with the challenge as past FE games. Lets not forget reworked reclass and skill system. You really cannot say FE:A went the safe route.

I strongly believe this won't be a cash-in based only on the fact that they want to keep the series running.

Disclaimer... hopefully post is readable

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Awesome! Another game coming up. I can't wait to play it, and I hope it is not that last one. My opinion is this: if they reach their goal in sales, I think they'll just continue making FE games. Heck I know I would, especially if sales go beyond what you had set as a goal.

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Not only did Awakening do extremely well both commercially and critically (it appealed to the masses way more than it appealed to people who'd been playing FE for years, which was a good strategy), FE received 4 character slots in SSB4. That's like... one less than Zelda received. The fact that Nintendo decided it was popular enough to give it that many slots when even hardcore FE fans thought it would receive 3 if it was lucky suggests they have faith in it now. I highly doubt FE14 is the last. Hell, even if it tanks I think there'll still be a FE15. If that tanks... who knows, but I doubt FE14 will tank. FE has a lot of momentum right now.

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Not only did Awakening do extremely well both commercially and critically (it appealed to the masses way more than it appealed to people who'd been playing FE for years, which was a good strategy), FE received 4 character slots in SSB4. That's like... one less than Zelda received. The fact that Nintendo decided it was popular enough to give it that many slots when even hardcore FE fans thought it would receive 3 if it was lucky suggests they have faith in it now. I highly doubt FE14 is the last. Hell, even if it tanks I think there'll still be a FE15. If that tanks... who knows, but I doubt FE14 will tank. FE has a lot of momentum right now.

It's a good time to be an FE fan thats for sure. The 4 slots in smash was just whoa, not to mention 2 stages (3 if you count Ferox on 3DS) and TONS of remixes.

Edited by Jedi
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If it sells well? Won't be the last, and even then it could continue in Japan but leave us western sadboys alone.

There really isn't a reason to stop other than financial stuff, because it isnt a game that follows the same main character each game or the same world. Its the type of sequels that can keep going forever as long as they can think of something. And the new one seems promising. I know I'm buying it first thing the day it comes out.

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This won't be the last. The Fire Emblem series is at the highest point it has ever been in its entire history. It had a universally well received game and an increased focus with 4 Fire Emblem characters in the lastest Smash Bros. And technically a crossover still in development.

Not to mention the fact that Awakening also made Nintendo a lot of money, with its million plus sales and its DLC.

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First off you shouldn't be ashamed about liking Awakening or that it was your first game. So what if it gets a lot of hate? Every game and every character in this series gets hated on for one reason or another. FEif is already getting hate and we have one trailer.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about the developers putting in less effort. No game is "just another game" to them, at least the way I see it. They're always pushing themselves to improve the gameplay and make each game the best it can be. If anything I would say they'll be able to give us a better product now because they won't be constantly thinking about cancellation. The problem was that they tried to shove everything they could think of into Awakening as a send-off to the series. Now they seem to have a clearer vision of just this one game and what they want it to accomplish.

As for features, the series was (in)famous for permadeath and being too hard so that scared a lot of people away. Now they have casual mode so they can appeal to a wider audience, which is what Awakening did. I don't see them removing that option. The avatar is probably another feature that won't be removed, at least any time soon, because of the same reason. Supports and likeable characters are a staple of the series so no need to worry about those going away. I really have faith that they'll be able to keep the new fans around while also appealing to the older fans.

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Even if this does a lot worse than Awakening, I can see them putting out at least one more, or a couple. I was amazed when I saw the sales figures for FE9 and FE10 compared to FE7 - yet they kept releasing them. It wouldn't have been forever of course, as we know, but it's clear they didn't just give up after one release with lower sales.

Besides, they've now seen the series CAN be revived/revitalized, so even if we see another slump in the future I think they won't lose hope too soon.

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Also I keep seeing this "Awakening gets a lot of hate" thing being thrown around. The fact of the matter is that this "hate" comes from a very vocal minority of mostly series veterans, but even plenty of series veterans love the game (such as myself) even if we are aware of its flaws.

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^ Yes, that seems true.

I didn't frequent this forum in the last two years or so (since before Awakening came out) and only started posting again today due to hype for the new game, but I was shocked to see all the hate for Awakening! (to the degree that it almost seems cool to hate on it). Critics loved it and the game sold a lot so clearly many people liked/loved them. I'm a series veteran and while it's not my favourite at all and there are some elements I could do without, I still liked it A LOT.

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Also I keep seeing this "Awakening gets a lot of hate" thing being thrown around. The fact of the matter is that this "hate" comes from a very vocal minority of mostly series veterans, but even plenty of series veterans love the game (such as myself) even if we are aware of its flaws.

This is true, maybe a more accurate way of saying it is that it gets a lot of criticism. But you can criticize something while still enjoying it. And again, pretty much every game gets criticized for something.

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