The next Fire Emblem story

[Alazen]

Hmmm... I think the problem I have with that is that I don't see FE as a medieval setting, but a fantasy one. Less Game of Thrones, more Lord of the Rings, if you get where I'm coming from. There's nuance there, sure, and intrigue, but there's still an absolute good and an absolute evil.

Even Martin's work has the Others. Even if they aren't ''evil'', all that has been revealed about them puts them as a threat to mankind.

Anyway, Kaga's FE seriously went away from ''good nation vs bad nation'' at Gaiden, had Grannvale be all conquering in Genealogy, and cemented it in Thracia with the revelations on the actions of Quan with Manster.

[Darkspellmaster]

I could see a war of the roses type story going on. It would be kind of interesting if they decided to do it as a generational thing eventually ending up like the History plays of the Henry's and Richards. You could easily have it where you play a Palles like person who is an orphan that is believed to be the heir to the throne, and the opposing side has the "Real" child there. Endings could end up where you rule alone, or together, or something else based on the actions in game.

Or how about a Mary vs Elizabeth sort of story where the two sisters are trying to take control of one place while there's a war being waged around them with a third or fourth party. In this case you move up the ranks to help either side.

I'd like to go back to Elibe or magval actually for a story, or Jungral since that one is supposed to take place in the same world as Archania. Or maybe where Say'ri came from and have a more pre meji era sort of game. Something after Awakening or between Awakening could be nice as well to clear up things.

If you really want to play as a conquer maybe have the story of Chrom's father and show that story and how it got to be the way it did and why he seemed like such a war monger.

[Garo]

We're looking at this from a narrative perspective, while yes, the themes of love and companionship is not that important in Fire Emblem, it's still one of the few consistent elements found through the plot of most of the games in the series, andthere are some subtle elements even in the older games in the series that integrate these themes in gameplay, i mean, Supports were added as a mechanic in FE3, far more longer than most of the people assume it has existed for, there also some more subtle ways that game integrated these themes, such as, for example, recruiting the four Clerics in the final chapter.

EDIT: How could i forget the perma-death mechanic? That's one of the biggest aspects that integrate the themes i mentioned into gameplay.

And while yes, making the game about conquest doesn't rule out these themes, it causes some problems, i mean, how is the player supposed to sympathize with a group of soldiers who all care about each other and protect each other so much when said soldiers are invading other nations and likely killing hundreds of soldiers who are just deffending their own country? The only way to make that work would be to make most characters have unsympathetic goals, which would make it much harder to establish a true feel of companionship among the cast. Either that, or make the entire story a Guilt Trip, which would just not be fun at all.

You seem to be forgetting about Elibe's Scouring. It has sympathetic "villains", not-as-sympathetic heroes, with the asshole-side winning in the end, while still keeping those themes of friendship with the Eight Legends.

...why hasn't this been suggested yet?

[Dark Sage]

I think a story with dragons as a central point can still be interesting, it just hasn't been done yet.

I've been playing BoFV recently and the dragons there were biological weapons on par with nukes. Their abuse led to the surface world being poisoned, forcing everyone to move underground. The original dragons are gone; the ones in the game are sentient biological constructs made in imitation of the dragons and created with the purpose of maintaining life in the settlements underground. They're still quite powerful though and they have the ability to link with certain mortals and give them the power to turn into a dragon like being, though it consumes their humanity over time.

I think a concept roughly based on this would be pretty good for a Fire Emblem with a focus on dragons. Personally I'd also think it would be really cool if the setting was a post-apocalyptic dark age long after the fall of modern civilization. The ruins of civilization are still present, like railroad tracks or ruined apartment complexes or a destroyed urban metropolis. It could serve as an interesting source of maps and could be a good variation of Dragon's Vein/some sort of interactive terrain feature. In other words, it's a good setting for both gameplay and story and I wonder why nobody at IS thought of this sooner.

[NekoKnight]

I think a story with dragons as a central point can still be interesting, it just hasn't been done yet.

I've been playing BoFV recently and the dragons there were biological weapons on par with nukes. Their abuse led to the surface world being poisoned, forcing everyone to move underground. The original dragons are gone; the ones in the game are sentient biological constructs made in imitation of the dragons and created with the purpose of maintaining life in the settlements underground. They're still quite powerful though and they have the ability to link with certain mortals and give them the power to turn into a dragon like being, though it consumes their humanity over time.

I think a concept roughly based on this would be pretty good for a Fire Emblem with a focus on dragons. Personally I'd also think it would be really cool if the setting was a post-apocalyptic dark age long after the fall of modern civilization. The ruins of civilization are still present, like railroad tracks or ruined apartment complexes or a destroyed urban metropolis. It could serve as an interesting source of maps and could be a good variation of Dragon's Vein/some sort of interactive terrain feature. In other words, it's a good setting for both gameplay and story and I wonder why nobody at IS thought of this sooner.

If I had to take a guess, I'd say they haven't because Fire Emblem is high fantasy, focusing on a romanticized medieval period. Gallant knights, noble princesses, plucky heroes and all that. Post-apocalyptic ruins of the past era doesn't feel very Fire Emblem to me. That said, it sounds like a really cool idea and I'd like to see it.

[Alazen]

Let's list what the next FE narrative shouldn't have:

1. Time travel.

2. Travel between seperate worlds.

3. A conflict like Hoshido VS Nohr.

[Jotari]

If I had to take a guess, I'd say they haven't because Fire Emblem is high fantasy, focusing on a romanticized medieval period. Gallant knights, noble princesses, plucky heroes and all that. Post-apocalyptic ruins of the past era doesn't feel very Fire Emblem to me. That said, it sounds like a really cool idea and I'd like to see it.

Hey they considered putting Awakening on Mars briefly so nothing's really outside the realm of possibility. Though with the success of Awakening I expect they'll play it safe for a few years and keep on giving us more of that.

[Alazen]

Honestly, I say that a future FE should really keep the otherworldly and/or over-the-top magicey bits in check so that they won't be there while holding back the ''human'' element.

Radiant Dawn had the Blood Pact shenanigans. Awakening had the time travel as an excuse to have a mostly irrelevant 2nd Gen and the final boss was a failed attempt to spin a Loptyr wannabe as some sort of Lovecraftish monstrosity.

While Fates firstly has ''No Talking About Touma'' as an excuse for Aqua to keep quiet about Hydra's dastardly schemes. The Conquest Path has Aqua pull out a convenient crystal ball that conveniently reveals ''Garon'' is actually a slimeman before conveniently breaking. Conquest also has Kamui and Aqua carry out an amazing plan that has them help steamroll Hoshido for Fake Garon to sit on a magic throne that takes off his disguise and finally cements the Nohr siblings as his enemies. Lastly, it uses a super fast dimension as an excuse to have an irrelevant 2nd Gen.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Alazen