Next Fire Emblem Game Theory

[JulioRicardo]

So, after finally completing all three routes (Birthright being my favorite), I've come up with a theory about why they made the games the way they did.

I think with Awakening reinvigorating the franchise, they needed to replicate the gameplay (open map for unlimited grinding), but also wanted to reintroduce the "old school" way of fire emblem (Conquest). My theory is that they're going to use the success of Conquest to determine if they make another game like that.

Awakening brought in a lot of new fans who have never experienced that style, so I think it makes sense that there was a game that presented that style without risking the franchise.

That said, I think the next game will be more Birthright like.

[AutumnShantel]

Interesting thought, I mean with the 3 games being sort of an experiment. I enjoyed Birthright more than Conquest, mainly because I liked having the option for scouting... but Revelation is what the majority of my playtime is spent on.

[sirmola]

So, after finally completing all three routes (Birthright being my favorite), I've come up with a theory about why they made the games the way they did.

I think with Awakening reinvigorating the franchise, they needed to replicate the gameplay (open map for unlimited grinding), but also wanted to reintroduce the "old school" way of fire emblem (Conquest). My theory is that they're going to use the success of Conquest to determine if they make another game like that.

Awakening brought in a lot of new fans who have never experienced that style, so I think it makes sense that there was a game that presented that style without risking the franchise.

That said, I think the next game will be more Birthright like.

I assumed that IS was trying to appease both kinds of fans, but this also makes sense.

[Sieghart]

I would the new games have the Br story and Conquest gameplay and the more important thing dont make copypaste of the past characters.

[Yvette]

I'm honestly not certain if IS will once again have multiple releases for FE15, but I do think (and hope) that they will have some sort of game mode to replicate traditional FE gameplay like what was done in Conquest. While they are clearly trying to appeal to the new fans that Awakening introduced, veterans make up enough of the fanbase to generate a significant enough revenue loss should they be alienated with newer releases.

Or at least that's how it would be for me. I'm not sure I could withstand it if all of the entries to come maintained the dull map design and lack of difficulty present in Awakening and Birthright.

I also think that they will either try to drastically improve on a nontraditional FE story (to make up for Conquest) or revert to a strictly traditional FE story once more to be safe.

[Locke087]

It should be noted the also conquest sold very well, while birthright sold only slightly more (which could be attributed to the fact that Nintendo pushed birthright as the path for first timers). There is a high likelihood that they could see a drop in sales, if they do not have a conquest style of difficulty present as an option. As conquest was received very well generally better than birthright was in reviews and many people including myself were on the verge of dropping the series altogether if conquest didn't pan out as it did. And I'm sure there are many new people to the series that found conquest a lot more fun and would be less likely to buy the next game if it was not similar inventive, fun, and challenging.

My belief is that intelligent systems will include a conquest style mode in the next game. This would be easy to do, just have the maps change objectives and make them harder. Just look at the differences between maps in birthright and conquest they share many maps but they use them differently (which I think was a detriment to neither) so I see no reason why intelligent systems couldn't have maps that serve multiple purposes. Because speaking for myself I will not be purchasing the next game if it is only in the style of birthright, so is my belief that it is in intelligent system's benefit to continue to appeal to new fan, old fans, and new fans of the old style alike. I don't see any business benefits intelligent systems could possibly gain from limiting their audience, as conquest was overall a net profit letting them reap the benefits from all sides of the fanbase.

TLDR; I see no practical reason why intelligent systems would not continue to have their cake and eat it too.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Locke087

[Book Bro]

I personally don't believe "casual" or first-time players would be turned off from objectives that aren't just rout/defeat boss, so I don't even know why they decided Birthright needed to have only that. FE15 should have a variety of objectives.

As far as grinding, I felt that even though it was available in Birthright it didn't feel necessary, unlike in Awakening where to me it felt like I had to grind because of how skills worked and the fact that children felt more like main game units. In Birthright and Revelation, skills are easier to get both through reclass and online castles. The kids are totally separate from the story so I don't feel like I'm missing important units by not grinding for them. I think what could work is having grinding be more limited on higher difficulties, like maybe on Normal there's unlimited opportunities to grind, on Hard you have limited opportunities, and on Lunatic there isn't any grinding at all. That or save it for the postgame with SS-style dungeons or PoR bonus maps. The only thing I would want is for it to be implemented as an extra for those who enjoy it, not as a requirement for content that's relevant to the main game.

Basically I don't think there needs to be a gap between "casual" players and "traditional" fans. I enjoyed FE8 and 14 even though they weren't always traditional FEs, and many newbies enjoyed Conquest even though it wasn't the same as Awakening. FE15 should just do its own thing instead of trying to please everybody like FE14.

[SilasKnight]

I'm still thinking that they will do a "three path" thing next time.

Maybe they can make something more...gigantic like extensions of world of warcraft.

I mean imagine just three campain in the same universe but it's just in a part of the world, and each year they released a new campaign with new characters and land...of the same universe.

[Sentinel07]

I personally don't believe "casual" or first-time players would be turned off from objectives that aren't just rout/defeat boss, so I don't even know why they decided Birthright needed to have only that. FE15 should have a variety of objectives.

As far as grinding, I felt that even though it was available in Birthright it didn't feel necessary, unlike in Awakening where to me it felt like I had to grind because of how skills worked and the fact that children felt more like main game units. In Birthright and Revelation, skills are easier to get both through reclass and online castles. The kids are totally separate from the story so I don't feel like I'm missing important units by not grinding for them. I think what could work is having grinding be more limited on higher difficulties, like maybe on Normal there's unlimited opportunities to grind, on Hard you have limited opportunities, and on Lunatic there isn't any grinding at all. That or save it for the postgame with SS-style dungeons or PoR bonus maps. The only thing I would want is for it to be implemented as an extra for those who enjoy it, not as a requirement for content that's relevant to the main game.

Basically I don't think there needs to be a gap between "casual" players and "traditional" fans. I enjoyed FE8 and 14 even though they weren't always traditional FEs, and many newbies enjoyed Conquest even though it wasn't the same as Awakening. FE15 should just do its own thing instead of trying to please everybody like FE14.

I very much agree with this.

I like the idea of grinding being tattered towards difficulty level. That makes more sense than trying to make 2 separate games based on that alone.

[DragonFlames]

I personally don't believe "casual" or first-time players would be turned off from objectives that aren't just rout/defeat boss, so I don't even know why they decided Birthright needed to have only that. FE15 should have a variety of objectives.

As far as grinding, I felt that even though it was available in Birthright it didn't feel necessary, unlike in Awakening where to me it felt like I had to grind because of how skills worked and the fact that children felt more like main game units. In Birthright and Revelation, skills are easier to get both through reclass and online castles. The kids are totally separate from the story so I don't feel like I'm missing important units by not grinding for them. I think what could work is having grinding be more limited on higher difficulties, like maybe on Normal there's unlimited opportunities to grind, on Hard you have limited opportunities, and on Lunatic there isn't any grinding at all. That or save it for the postgame with SS-style dungeons or PoR bonus maps. The only thing I would want is for it to be implemented as an extra for those who enjoy it, not as a requirement for content that's relevant to the main game.

Basically I don't think there needs to be a gap between "casual" players and "traditional" fans. I enjoyed FE8 and 14 even though they weren't always traditional FEs, and many newbies enjoyed Conquest even though it wasn't the same as Awakening. FE15 should just do its own thing instead of trying to please everybody like FE14.

I very much agree with this.

I like the idea of grinding being tattered towards difficulty level. That makes more sense than trying to make 2 separate games based on that alone.

Me too.

I also thought that they could add a 'beginner' mode, where grinding is an option and a 'veteran' mode that is more like Conquest/traditional Fire Emblem, but have both modes be selectable with any difficulty, save perhaps for Lunatic, which you can only select with 'veteran'. And of course you'd have to be able to clear the game through both modes. I also like the idea of making post-game grinding possible even if there is no grinding in the actual story, so that we can have a balanced multiplayer mode or an improved co-op mode from Awakening.

Note that I only called the two alternatives 'beginner' and 'veteran' for the lack of better words that don't come to my mind atm. I'm not implying that anyone who grinds in fire Emblem is a 'beginner'. I wouldn't call myself a beginner and I still enjoy that grinding is possible. Though I wouldn't exactly call myself an expert by any means either, because I couldn't brave Awakening's Lunatic+ or Radiant Dawn's Hard mode (which was Maniac in Japanese, I think). *hangs head in shame*

You know what? Let's call them 'new' and 'traditional' modes. 'New' being the mode where you can grind during the story and 'traditional' being the mode where you can't.

Edited May 27, 2016 by DragonFlames