New Years Resolutions for Intelligent Systems & Nintendo

[BriForABri]

Hey, all. First of all, nice job on getting through this year. We've all had struggles, but with a new year, comes (hopefully) a brighter tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for keeping Serenes Forest a great place where we can add to this great community. Here's to 2021!

Anyway, speaking of 2021, I got to thinking about what Intelligent Systems and Nintendo could do to bring something exciting to the Fire Emblem community after the pandemic comes to an end. Think of it as possible "resolutions" for the devs of Fire Emblem. So I ask this to you all: what would you like to see announced by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems in 2021? What do you think their resolution should be? We all need something to brighten our spirits as the pandemic gradually comes to an end, so why not ponder the future? 

As for me, there is a clear-cut answer to this question. I would love to see them announce the newest remake for a Fire Emblem game. I am hoping and praying that it will be a Genealogy of the Holy War / Thracia 776 remake, but I would love a Binding Blade remake as well. Not only because the Jugdral Saga is my favorite in the series, but also to make my friends pick up the game for themselves. That's really all I'm asking for in terms of announcements by the companies, but if by some miracle they announce an FE anime, I would love that as well.

I would love to hear what you all think, so please share your own thoughts and ideas!   

[Fabulously Olivier]

I'll be happy with any remake out of FE 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9.

 

What I really want is Fire Emblem Warriors 2. It's all I want. Make it happen, and give us a more historically-comprehensive roster.

[Shrimpica]

Get em Jugdral remakes ready, IS!

51 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

What I really want is Fire Emblem Warriors 2. It's all I want. Make it happen, and give us a more historically-comprehensive roster.

This works as well

Edited December 31, 2020 by Shrimperor

[Sooks]

I have yet to play jugdral (am I the only one who just heard tons of booing?) and as such I think the best remake would be fe6. I would love a port/remaster/rerelease/remake of Tellius combined on the switch, but I know that’s not gonna happen so...

Anyway I hope the next not remake fe either does a route split well or doesn’t do it, keeps what made 3H so good while doing away with what didn’t, has the same pretty good writing, and... that’s it. My hopes aren’t high yet.

[sinfonic18]

Personally I would like a HD fe1 remake because after playing the original NES version on switch I can conclude that it's downright terrible and so archaic that it's barely playable compared to other FEs. GBA and GC, Wii Fire Emblem doesn't need remade imo as bad as the early NES and SNES era games.

[Zapp Branniglenn]

IS had no hand in the mess that was this year, so there is nothing to "resolve". I guess Cindered Shadows technically came out this year and people were disappointed in that, but by then I was already finished with my final playthrough of Three Houses. But yes, there are some things I think the franchise at large needs to address, so if I were in charge, regardless of if the game were a remake or not, I would:

• Not do route splits. Tell one story, the best story you can think of, and not four neutered versions of a story that are trying desperately not to overlap or contradict the other.
• 2D only. I don't want to see a single 3D model or even have 3D battle animations. Return to the glory days of sprite animation. Have dialogue where two character portraits speak to each other over beautifully drawn backdrops.
• Don't have hard mode be an afterthought. Because a lot of us love a challenging game. Three Houses Maddening Mode, despite being a literal afterthought in the development of that game, is probably one of the most compelling hard modes i've seen in this series, so I know there's some real talent at IS. Hell, we knew that even in the early years of the mobile game and it's hard mode maps.
• Keep Fire Emblem at the front. The last game is only interested in being a fire emblem game 50% of the playtime, and that's not enough. We like tactical gameplay, and the people that don't already have things like autobattle and casual mode to skip past it. 
• Skill goals are brilliant, keep them in. For decades, our units have yammered on about training training training, but no such thing has ever been made into a mechanic until now. Setting training goals and earning free skill exp in those fields inbetween maps is something I've been asking for for years.
• Class masteries and class-specific skills are also a great idea. I think you can even make a case for these if your game doesn't have reclassing or branched class promotions, since they make classes more unique than they otherwise could be.
• Keep the punching. It's another thing I've been asking for for years, and I wouldn't mind at all if it were the least effective weapon type because I would still love it regardless.
• Stop trying to be Persona. Look I was surprised that 5 came out too and was well received, but not every rpg has to be Persona now. Get out of the school. Give us a protagonist that can speak. Ditch the calendar system.

[eclipse]

"The Fire Emblem base is split.  Which side do we value more, those who drop way too much money on a mobile game, or those who make angry forum posts?"

[X-Naut]

News on a game that isn't Heroes content or a port would be appreciated.

[sinfonic18]

1 hour ago, Glennstavos said:

IS had no hand in the mess that was this year, so there is nothing to "resolve". I guess Cindered Shadows technically came out this year and people were disappointed in that, but by then I was already finished with my final playthrough of Three Houses. But yes, there are some things I think the franchise at large needs to address, so if I were in charge, regardless of if the game were a remake or not, I would:

• Not do route splits. Tell one story, the best story you can think of, and not four neutered versions of a story that are trying desperately not to overlap or contradict the other.
• 2D only. I don't want to see a single 3D model or even have 3D battle animations. Return to the glory days of sprite animation. Have dialogue where two character portraits speak to each other over beautifully drawn backdrops.
• Don't have hard mode be an afterthought. Because a lot of us love a challenging game. Three Houses Maddening Mode, despite being a literal afterthought in the development of that game, is probably one of the most compelling hard modes i've seen in this series, so I know there's some real talent at IS. Hell, we knew that even in the early years of the mobile game and it's hard mode maps.
• Keep Fire Emblem at the front. The last game is only interested in being a fire emblem game 50% of the playtime, and that's not enough. We like tactical gameplay, and the people that don't already have things like autobattle and casual mode to skip past it. 
• Skill goals are brilliant, keep them in. For decades, our units have yammered on about training training training, but no such thing has ever been made into a mechanic until now. Setting training goals and earning free skill exp in those fields inbetween maps is something I've been asking for for years.
• Class masteries and class-specific skills are also a great idea. I think you can even make a case for these if your game doesn't have reclassing or branched class promotions, since they make classes more unique than they otherwise could be.
• Keep the punching. It's another thing I've been asking for for years, and I wouldn't mind at all if it were the least effective weapon type because I would still love it regardless.
• Stop trying to be Persona. Look I was surprised that 5 came out too and was well received, but not every rpg has to be Persona now. Get out of the school. Give us a protagonist that can speak. Ditch the calendar system.

Dude. You literally just said every single thing I wanted to say. Thank you!

[Icelerate]

6 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

I'll be happy with any remake out of FE 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9.

 

What I really want is Fire Emblem Warriors 2. It's all I want. Make it happen, and give us a more historically-comprehensive roster.

You want FE1 and FE3 remade again despite being on the DS?

[Fabulously Olivier]

7 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

You want FE1 and FE3 remade again despite being on the DS?

Basically, Echoes SoV (despite not being all that good a game, IMO), showed what could be done in terms of story, characters, and presentation when remaking the old games. It utterly puts the mediocre FE1 and FE3 remakes to shame in that regard.

 

FE 1 and FE 3 are much better games than Gaiden, and giving them a similar rewrite, support conversations, new artwork and cinematics, and QoL could make them ideal FE games.

 

No, I don't think they should take precedence over FE4-10, but it would be a shame to leave them as they are when they have the potential for something better.

[Icelerate]

5 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Basically, Echoes SoV (despite not being all that good a game, IMO), showed what could be done in terms of story, characters, and presentation when remaking the old games. It utterly puts the mediocre FE1 and FE3 remakes to shame in that regard.

 

FE 1 and FE 3 are much better games than Gaiden, and giving them a similar rewrite, support conversations, new artwork and cinematics, and QoL could make them ideal FE games.

 

No, I don't think they should take precedence over FE4-10, but it would be a shame to leave them as they are when they have the potential for something better.

Yeah, I want to see Caeda's recruitment conversations with full voice acting. That'd be cool to see. Also, the graphics won't be as dull as in the DS era. 

[Samz707]

27 minutes ago, Icelerate said:

Yeah, I want to see Caeda's recruitment conversations with full voice acting. That'd be cool to see. Also, the graphics won't be as dull as in the DS era. 

Oh I'm sure the Roger one will be loved.

Yeah 3D models that get turned into sprites generally do not age well, at all. (at least that's what the animations in the DS games remind me of.)

8 hours ago, FE_McFly said:

As for me, there is a clear-cut answer to this question. I would love to see them announce the newest remake for a Fire Emblem game. I am hoping and praying that it will be a Genealogy of the Holy War / Thracia 776 remake, but I would love a Binding Blade remake as well. Not only because the Jugdral Saga is my favorite in the series, but also to make my friends pick up the game for themselves. That's really all I'm asking for in terms of announcements by the companies, but if by some miracle they announce an FE anime, I would love that as well.

Semi-off topic but it's a thing I've been wondering about (Since Thracia/Genealogy seems to get much darker than most FE games from what I hear and I've seen people say it'd probably get censored.), would you rather Genealogy/Thracia be censored or have the age rating bumped up compared to other FE games if it came down to that?

3 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

 

• Keep the punching. It's another thing I've been asking for for years, and I wouldn't mind at all if it were the least effective weapon type because I would still love it regardless.

Yeah, I've not gotten any punch weapons in Three Houses yet (I heard apparently shops only start stocking them when you raise the skill or something?) , while I think the idea of running into battle with Gauntlets is kinda silly (since IRL Gauntlets were more of a fancy gladiator thing if I recall and really weren't suited for actual combat.), I don't mind punching as a last-resort option, also because some weak Cleric trying to deck an armored knight would probably look hilarious, Imagine Serra trying to beat up an Wyvern Rider.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Samz707

[JAZ_2002]

I just want more Male Corrin in Heroes

[joevar]

IS not having bad year at all imo, so the resolution they need is "to make sure the quality stays or improved". in that note, i wish for IS not making new FE based on "what's popular" or at least dont make it obvious. just be wild and varied enough with the feature. i doubt FE will crash and burn just because one entry thats "unusual"

also TMS sequel, dunno why i want this, but its something weird and unique to marry this war franchise with idol game

[L3xandr3]

5 hours ago, X-Naut said:

News on a game that isn't Heroes content or a port would be appreciated.

Yea. Heroes news is a big mixed bag. I honestly don't know why they dropped a surprise port of an ancient game, however. I mean, I'm not against it, but I'd rather they use their time one something other than translating a nearly 30 year old game.

 

2 hours ago, Samz707 said:

Semi-off topic but it's a thing I've been wondering about (Since Thracia/Genealogy seems to get much darker than most FE games from what I hear and I've seen people say it'd probably get censored.), would you rather Genealogy/Thracia be censored or have the age rating bumped up compared to other FE games if it came down to that?

Bump it up. Genealogy lives off it's story. Take it away and what do you have? Big, bloated maps.

[Fire Emblem Fan]

Every Japan-only FE gets a western release. That'd be nice.

[lenticular]

1. Continue to innovate. Don't be afraid to make changes even if they'll be divisive. Make the game that they're excited to make, even if it means killing some sacred cows. If they're excited to push even further into RPG and lifesim territory and completely remove permadeath, they should. If they want to completely ditch all the RPG trappings and just make a pure turn based tactics game with a very simple story, then they should do that instead. I want to play something that the dev team truly believes in and not "here's a copy of Three Houses because that game sold well".
2. Don't over-reach. With Three Houses, they bit off more than they could chew, had to push back release multiple times, and still ended up releasing a game that felt unfinished in places. Being ambitious is good, but it needs to be realistic ambition.
3. Don't over-promise. This is related to the last one. If they don't have anything to show to the public then they shouldn't show anything. If they aren't sure when a release date will be then they shouldn't announce one. I'd much rather wait to be given some meaningful information than be drip-fed scraps. And if that means we don't hear anything at all in 2021, then so be it.

[Aethelstan]

I want remakes of the Elibe games. Particulary one where Lynn is worth using on harder difficulties. There should also be one more game in the style of three houses, though it probably won't come out for years. But it seems to be IS' style. (Binding Blade then Rekka no Ken, Awakening then Fates, PoR then Radiant Dawn) 

FE4 is among my favorite games of any franchise but there is no way in hell it would ever be released in America and put on the Nintendo store here. I don' think it's the gameplay at all. I think it's the incest. America is far more conservative about that stuff than Japan. If it was released here there would be tons of Kotaku and Polygon articles about it and it would generate lots of negative attention for the franchise they don't want. They took great pains over the last few games to give the series more mainstream appeal, they wouldn't throw that away for FE4 for just the most hardcore fans. I'd be happy to be proven wrong but I don't think I will be.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Aethelstan

[joevar]

3 hours ago, Aethelstan said:

If it was released here there would be tons of Kotaku and Polygon articles about it and it would generate lots of negative attention for the franchise they don't want.

lol i know right... they cant keep shut and always takes offense in the least important stuff in a game. they will complaint about that stuff no matter what the games offer( too few options, not broad enough, or not good enough, etc)

or they could take the worst path: tone down "ugly" part of the story, but then it would not be FE4 anymore. since making FE a mature rated games seems not in Nintendo best interest (i dont think theres any R18+ rated Nintendo-owned IP / exclusives)

[Cynthia Stan]

Please get rid of the "Evil secret cult" that seems to be in most Fire Emblem games, it makes for really lame antagonists. Looking at you TWSITD. 

[Gordin]

Realistic Answer: Fire Emblem warriors 2

 

What I would like most but isn't realistic thanks to shitty sales sadly T_T: Tms 2

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Gordin

[Gordin]

6 hours ago, Aethelstan said:

I want remakes of the Elibe games. Particulary one where Lynn is worth using on harder difficulties. There should also be one more game in the style of three houses, though it probably won't come out for years. But it seems to be IS' style. (Binding Blade then Rekka no Ken, Awakening then Fates, PoR then Radiant Dawn) 

FE4 is among my favorite games of any franchise but there is no way in hell it would ever be released in America and put on the Nintendo store here. I don' think it's the gameplay at all. I think it's the incest. America is far more conservative about that stuff than Japan. If it was released here there would be tons of Kotaku and Polygon articles about it and it would generate lots of negative attention for the franchise they don't want. They took great pains over the last few games to give the series more mainstream appeal, they wouldn't throw that away for FE4 for just the most hardcore fans. I'd be happy to be proven wrong but I don't think I will be.

The story isn't that bad Imo. We had stuff like it in 3 houses with child experimentation and literal genocide. And fe4's story is literally about how incest caused the 2nd coming of satan to appear. No glorifying incest in fe4. Y'all are just weak and can't read.

[Axie]

happy new year everyone!

i am not sure which direction IS plans on following for the franchise (i still get the feeling 3H, as much as it sold, didn't get as much talk outside the fandom as awakening or even fates? i was outside the fandom for a while and was even under the impression it didn't sell very well until i got back here), but they would be dumb to not follow the money. i'd rather get slightly worse games than, well, no games, which seemed like a real possibility in the DS era.

i do wish IS decided to be a bit more daring with its storyline and characters again. fates, and apparently also 3H,was incredibly frustrating with how it desperately tries to make the player not feel bad for anything the main character does ever. you can always have your cake and eat it too. if you'reggoing to be ambitious and do route splits, give the player decisions to make, allow the player to feel like they are being kind of evil at some point. if you're not gonna commit to that, don't do that kind of route split, and at most do a ephraim/eirika shindig.

gameplay-wise i have few observations other than keep the off-battle shenanigans to a minimum and never get rid of classic mode. otherwise, i welcome change and experimentation. new ideas never hurt, as long as you actually let the good ones stick (weapon weight should have stayed gone because fates absolutely nailed it for example).

[X-Naut]

18 hours ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

Basically, Echoes SoV (despite not being all that good a game, IMO), showed what could be done in terms of story, characters, and presentation when remaking the old games. It utterly puts the mediocre FE1 and FE3 remakes to shame in that regard.

 

FE 1 and FE 3 are much better games than Gaiden, and giving them a similar rewrite, support conversations, new artwork and cinematics, and QoL could make them ideal FE games.

 

No, I don't think they should take precedence over FE4-10, but it would be a shame to leave them as they are when they have the potential for something better.

I agree, aside from having less priority than FE7-10. There's also the fact that the second half of the story has never left Japan, whereas the other four games HAVE been localized and have been made available through Virtual Console/re-releases. If there is an argument for these games first, it's that re-remaking Archanea would be a very tall order because Book 2 would be awkward on its own while Book 1 would be redundant when Shadow Dragon and the Switch port exist.