Developer Interview (translated from Nintendo Dream)

[Kirokan]

Hi everyone!

I translated a Fire Emblem Heroes dev interview from the latest issue of Nintendo Dream. I thought to share it here since it addresses some things I saw various threads asking about:

• Why mages lack one space range
• Expanding the story beyond nine chapters
• Amount of content planned for the game
• #FE characters and whether they will be involved
• "Choose Your Legends" Poll Results

There's a few more things I probably missed, but it's a fun read.

You can read it on my blog here, or see it below in the spoiler tag. Feel free to share with friends/other sites, but please link back to the blog post in some way if you do so. : )

(It came out a week or so ago, I think, but I didn't see anyone else who translated it on my brief search, but in case someone did and posted and I simply missed it, feel free to delete it, etc)

 

Spoiler

 

A look into the world of Heroes! – Developer Interview

We ask two of the game directors for their first impressions! From info about the game to the characters in the world of Heroes, we take a look inside and out.

Mr. Shinko Matsushita

The director on the Nintendo side. He headed games such as the Fossil Fighters series, The Wonderful 101, and Bayonetta 2. He is attached to the Smart Device Production Group. This is his first involvement with Fire Emblem.

Mr. Kouhei Maeda

Director of Intelligent Systems –the company behind the development of the Fire Emblem series. He has been involved since Binding Blade, and served as director of New Mystery of the Emblem, Awakening, and Fates.

The long-awaited smartphone debut! The challenges of the new FE

Q: Mr. Maeda, you had previously stated, “I’m quite a fan of Gaiden and would love to revisit it,” so one would think you were working on Echoes [instead of Heroes.]

Matsushita: Well, Mr. Maeda has always wanted to do something with smart devices too.

Maeda: That’s right. I was curious about what new things could be done with it. Many within the company, including the producer Higuchi, felt it should have something to do with the games throughout the series as a whole.

Q: Even though this is FE’s debut on smart devices, the illustrations look really pretty in their display.

Matsushita: Yes, this is the highest resolution FE has been in its entire history – passing full HD (1920 x 1080)!

Q: I see… (Laughs)

Matsushita: If you play on a tablet, you can see the sides of the picture that are regrettably cut off on the smart phone version, too.

Q: So to start, please tell us about how this game differs from the rest of the series’ entries up until now.

Maeda: Well, for starters, there is no controller. The player has to tap and slide characters to the enemy to attack them by default…

Q: Indeed, there is a lack of a controller. (Laughs)

Maeda: Yes. (Laughs). We had to make and implement a concept that merges “simplicity” with “FE-esque strategy” while keeping to a system of sliding toward an enemy in order to attack them.

Matsushita: From the start, we emphasized trying to play the game with just one hand using your thumb. On the other hand, we thought we could make it to the DS versions which also had a tap system.

Maeda: While simple, we had to make it something that would satisfy those seeking a more FE-esque experience at the same time.

Q: This is all on one screen with a narrow 6×8 map?

Matushita: On the DS Advance Wars games’ map editor –which featured even smaller maps –you could still get away with making them quite elaborate.

Maeda: That’s right. We aimed to make the maps rich in strategy even if small with various things like what skills to equip, what combination of members to bring, and improvising based on what skills the enemy has. With so few squares, the ones that are there grow ever more important.

Q: Series veterans will be a little thrown off, right? With things like Mages losing their ability to shoot both one and two squares away.

Maeda: That’s right. Part of the reason is simply the sliding interface for the game. If you wanted to attack an enemy, you would have to add an extra step as to whether to do it from next to them or away from them –as the game cannot differentiate. So we decided to keep it ranged only.

Matsushita: Not to mention a Mage would be quite overpowered if they could still shoot near and far this time around. There were other changes in parameters too, such as Hit and Avoid being taken out.

Maeda: It helps simplify strategic logic too, as it makes the reason for your blunder much simpler: “You lost this unit because you moved them here.” This reflects in “Grand Hero Battles” too, where even the development staff wondered: “Is this degree of strategy really necessary for a simple smartphone game?” We decided to prepare a variety of difficulty levels as a result. We wanted a deeper strategic experience where you must maneuver your units with great consideration given to the enemy’s abilities.

Matsushita: So by doing “Grand Hero Battles” you improve your general FE skills too.

The mechanism behind summoning and raising heroes

Q: It really is hard deciding on which four members to deploy on a map…

Maeda: It’s definitely a good idea to bring different characters depending on the map’s needs, so you’ll probably end up using a great variety of characters. Of course, there are also situations where people grow attached enough to declare: “This team is the best! They shall fight on any and every map no matter what!”

Q: Is there a Class Change feature this time?

Maeda: There is not in the traditional sense. This game’s system instead features the “Unlock Potential” function* which serves a similar purpose. Characters can be upgraded until they reach Five Stars.

Matsushita: If one levels up the protagonist Alfonse to a Five Star unit, he gains an exclusive legendary weapon. Likewise if one levels Wrys all the way up to Five Star, he too becomes much stronger. He gains this amazing skill with an equally powerful name: “Heavenly Light.”**

Maeda: FE has a variety of ways to play, one of them being to play with characters you like. So while we made every character have their advantages and disadvantages, we also followed a design philosophy that would ensure everyone becomes strong at the Five Star level.

*TN: 覚醒 or Awakening in Japanese –same as the title of FE13.
**TN: In Japanese, it is named 天照 (Amaterasu), the name of Japan’s sun goddess, which is what he meant by “equally powerful.”

Q: Speaking of, it’s nice seeing character animations when they’re summoned.

Maeda: There are even Three Star characters which have animations. We make them in order to make some characters more appealing.

Matsushita: If we made too many though, the app’s increased storage space would become an issue, so we limited it to eight characters.

Q: According to the details of hero summoning: “You are guaranteed a Five Star character if you do not get one after 120 tries.” That’s pretty awesome!

Matsushita: Yes, this was prepared as a mechanism for those who constantly have poor draws. At the start, it is 6%, and the chances steadily increase from there until all five of the orbs feature a Five Star character.

Maeda: Though it’s very rare to get to 120 tries without drawing a Five Star.

Q: Does the probability reset after you draw a Five Star?

Matsushita: It does. It may be worth noting that probability of drawing a Five Star from any of the five orbs increases regardless of summoning orb type –it will not be affected by whatever color orb you previously summoned.

Q: What determines which color summoning orbs show up anyway?

Maeda: It’s random. It reshuffles when you return to the menu.

Q: Are there instances of people targeting just one color when there’s a specific character they’re looking for?

Maeda: Of course. If you recall Mr. Koyasu in the FE Direct, he was picking nothing but red!

Q: Mr. Koyasu’s narration was rather amusing too.

The heroes and world of Heroes

Q: Anna, from previous titles, appears as one of the “Order of Heroes,”* it seems!

Maeda: This time she serves as the player’s superior in this special group. She had appeared all across the previous games, so it was only fitting she be the player’s direct instructor this time.

*TN: Known asヴァイス・ブレイヴ (Weiss Braves, or White Braves in Japanese), in case you were wondering why they all wear white.

Q: Does that make her the Prince and Princess’s superior, too?

Maeda: It does.

Q: What are the name origins of the Askr Kingdom and Embla Empire*?

Maeda: Askr and Embla come from the names of the first man and woman in Norse mythology.

*TN: They refer to Embla as just a “kingdom” (王国) rather than empire (帝国) here.

Q: It seems Feh the Owl*, the twitter character, made it in too?

Maeda: The Order needed some sort of owl to deliver various gifts in the game, so the art director was determined to implement our social media mascot into the role.

*TN: Spelled フェー  in Japanese. Apparently a play on the acronym of "Fire Emblem Heroes" (FEH).

Q: Does Feh talk in the game at all?

Maeda: Not at all. It lets out a little “Hoot!” when tapped, but that’s it.

Matsushita: Feh and Sharena get along really well, though.

Q: The story is initially nine chapters, but this can be added to at any time, right?

Matsushita: That’s right. Right now, we want to give off the impression of those chapters simply being “season one.”

Maeda: We have a set delivery schedule in mind until the end of this year, with paralogues coming out at a steady pace of every other week or so.

Q: Will we see more original characters appear?

Maeda: Yes, there are plans for such.

Q: It is refreshing seeing heroes from older games that lacked voices made new again with voice acting.

Maeda: Higuchi (the producer) was adamant about what the characters should sound like. He would direct the casting crew with orders like: “I want this character to sound this way.”

Matsushita: Ogma has the same voice actor from the OVA series.

Maeda: Yes. His voice actor from the Mystery of the Emblem OVA reprises his role. We are very grateful he accepted our request.

Q: Caeda however is voiced not by her OVA actress, but by Ms. Saori Hayami from #FE, right?

Matsushita: [Yes], we are grateful to see some of the voices behind heroes in #FE also return for this game.

Q: Is there a possibility of seeing #FE characters appear in this game?

Matsushita: Hmm… It would be very difficult for them to appear due to the differences in story and setting, and things may get complicated with the separate universes…

Q: Of course, considering the #FE mirages also came from parallel universes anyway.

Everyone showed their enthusiasm! And a deeper love for characters than once thought!

Q: You all ran a poll titled: “Choose Your Legends” on the main website before the game’s release. How were the results?

Maeda: We thought: “Wow, Lyn is incredibly popular.” I heard people overseas rallied behind her, too.

Matsushita: Lyn was the highest ranked female character regardless of country. Lucina however was more popular in Japan, whereas Ike was much more popular in the United States of America. And, for whatever reason, Donnel had a ton of votes from the USA as well –for reasons we are still unsure of.

Q: Have all the titles been released overseas?

Matsushita: They have not.

Maeda: Binding Blade and a few others have not been released overseas.

Q: I see. So one can assume Roy placed second thanks to the Japanese audience –or perhaps thanks to his inclusion in the Smash Brothers series that would have exposed him to a worldwide audience?

Maeda: We feel there were a variety of factors that influenced the votes.

Matsushita: Lyn’s popularity surprised us, it was quite unexpected for sure. Meanwhile, Marth placed lower in rank than we thought he would. Other results also betrayed expectations, such as the Awakening Tiki placing higher than the Mystery of the Emblem Tiki.

Maeda: We really appreciate the enthusiasm people all over the world showed by participating and voting in the poll.

Q: So something on everyone’s mind: characters that will be added from here on out?

Maeda: Every month, more characters will be added.

Matsushita: There are still characters from certain games that have not appeared, so we figure they will likely appear before any others. Although it’s much easier to make a cohesive story out of characters from one game, that would not satisfy people who wanted characters from other games. As such, we are seeking to expand the overall framework first.

Q: So you mean bringing in a great variety of characters from different games first?

Matsushita: Yes. We aim to make the paralogues more festive with a less serious nature to them. Mr. Maeda and the others thought to use these as a way to enliven the characters while pacing the serious parts of the story.

Q: [And finally], do you have any events planned outside the app? Perhaps plans for a collaboration with original characters appearing in Cipher?

Maeda: I wish…

Matsushita: It’s currently under consideration.

Maeda: What I love about the smart device game is that we can hear and implement all sorts of feedback and reactions we receive from customers and fans. I think it’s great to be able to receive fan responses and respond in kind, so by all means please continue to send requests and show your support!

Matsushita: Usually a fan has to wait several years before the next game in their beloved series comes out. But Heroes will now be here to fill that gap between games as it continues to grow. Now you will always have an “FE game by your side” to enjoy. Thank you for your continued support!

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2017 by Kirokan

[escotanner]

Looks like i finally got the answers I wanted. Thank you so much for doing this.

[Sunwoo]

Huh, so Ike is more popular in the West and Lucina is more popular in Japan? Well, even if Ike is more popular in the West than he is in Japan, I guess I can't say I'm too surprised by his ranking. Even if "the West" only included the U.S., that's almost three times the population as Japan. Not too surprised that Lyn is popular across the world, though.

[immatx]

This answered so many questions, I really appreciate you putting this up for all of us. 

[Jedi]

I'm laughing at their surprise about Donnel. Because quite a few of us were confused about that as well.

[Extrasolar]

2 minutes ago, Sunwoo said:

Huh, so Ike is more popular in the West and Lucina is more popular in Japan? Well, even if Ike is more popular in the West than he is in Japan, I guess I can't say I'm too surprised by his ranking. Even if "the West" only included the U.S., that's almost three times the population as Japan. Not too surprised that Lyn is popular across the world, though.

Ike is a given, considering the Tellius series as a whole is much more popular in the west than it is in Japan, though it didn't sell well in either country. Vindicated by time, in the west especially, as it seems.

[escotanner]

1 minute ago, Extrasolar said:

Ike is a given, considering the Tellius series as a whole is much more popular in the west than it is in Japan, though it didn't sell well in either country. Vindicated by time, in the west especially, as it seems.

Even though Ike entered smash bros after the initial release of both games you'd think more people would buy the game because of how awesome he is.

[Sire]

Many thanks for translating and sharing this with us, Kirokan!

I enjoy the fact there will be more original characters added to FE:Heroes. However, I don't see it happening unless we get a story expansion. I thought it would have happened with the previous Focus change, but we got a different Paralogue instead. When will new story chapters come out?

The monthly characters and paralogues are a nice touch. A part of me is thinking they are using the "Splatoon" model, where there is lots of stuff made (and still being made) but may be held back to release everything over time. Although, I wonder when the event characters from "Choose Your Legends" will make their debut. I'm hoping before May, because I am sure there will be more of a focus on Gaiden because of Echoes being released.

[Jedi]

1 minute ago, Sire said:

Many thanks for translating and sharing this with us, Kirokan!

I enjoy the fact there will be more original characters added to FE:Heroes. However, I don't see it happening unless we get a story expansion. I thought it would have happened with the previous Focus change, but we got a different Paralogue instead. When will new story chapters come out?

The monthly characters and paralogues are a nice touch. A part of me is thinking they are using the "Splatoon" model, where there is lots of stuff made (and still being made) but may be held back to release everything over time. Although, I wonder when the event characters from "Choose Your Legends" will make their debut. I'm hoping before May, because I am sure there will be more of a focus on Gaiden because of Echoes being released.

Monthly releases is kind of the Gatcha model in general, its not really surprising.

[Sire]

4 minutes ago, Jedi said:

Monthly releases is kind of the Gatcha model in general, its not really surprising.

FE: Heroes is my first ever Gacha game (heck, first ever mobile game), so I am unfamiliar with the business model save for the RNG mechanics and events like many "Asian F2P" games like Dungeon Fighters Online and Vindictus. I don't even know if sales and discounts are a thing with the model.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Sire

[Truthblade]

So everyone was shocked at Lyn's popularity. Though I still can't figure out how Donnel got so high.....

[Sentinel07]

1. It's really amusing that even they aren't sure how Donnel got so many votes. Neither do I.

2. More original characters? I like the sound of that! :)

3. So this is just Season 1 eh? Well, hopefully it isn't too long until Season 2.

[MaskedAmpharos]

I'm just happy that they confirmed new characters and story every month. It's March now, so I can't wait for when they add new things (probably March 15 or so as the current banner ends on the 14th I believe). Also I wasn't expecting more original characters aside from Alphonse/Sharena/Anna, Veronica, and Totally-Not-Zacharias, but I'm quite excited to see what they're like! 

[Baldrick]

Thanks for translating.

I'm confused as to why people are confused that Donnel is popular. He's the Magikarp dude, and outside of a tiny niche of the fandom that's a good thing.

[Katrisa]

Thanks for posting this, it was great to read!  I was really surprised at Lyn's popularity.  Honestly I was surprised so many people remembered Lyn period. I figured the number of folks that played the games when she was around was much smaller than some of the newer games.  

[The DanMan]

1 hour ago, escotanner said:

Even though Ike entered smash bros after the initial release of both games you'd think more people would buy the game because of how awesome he is.

When the games involving him are going for twice the MSRP used, a lack of interest is understandable.

Anyways, not a whole lot but what is there is pretty neat. The devs are as confused by Etika as we are.

 

[Sentinel07]

1 hour ago, Kirokan said:

Matsushita: Usually a fan has to wait several years before the next game in their beloved series comes out. But Heroes will now be here to fill that gap between games as it continues to grow. Now you will always have an “FE game by your side” to enjoy. Thank you for your continued support!

I'm not entirely sure about that. I'd say this game has a good year in it, but beyond that who knows. I'd be surprised if it was still active by the time Fire Emblem Switch comes around.

[Water Mage]

Damn Etika, I really don't like the guy. I don't want to sound like an elitist and trust me I'm the furthest thing from it, but that guy barely knows anything about the series and yet look how much influence he has over the fanbase. Donnel's popularity proves it.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Water Mage

[bethany81707]

I'm honestly more confused by Dorcas and Arden's high placement.

[Truthblade]

3 minutes ago, phineas81707 said:

I'm honestly more confused by Dorcas and Arden's high placement.

I heard the former was rather memetic.

[The DanMan]

14 minutes ago, phineas81707 said:

I'm honestly more confused by Dorcas and Arden's high placement.

Dorcas' popularity stems from a US commercial for the release of FE7, with the unfitting tagline of "trust nobody". The memetic exchange goes as follows:

Soldier 1: "What happened to Dorcas?"

Soldier 2: "Oh, I put poison in his mutton." *everybody laughs*

[Roflolxp54]

35 minutes ago, Water Mage said:

Damn Etika, I really don't like the guy. I don't want to sound like an elitist and trust me I'm the furthest thing from it, but that guy barely knows anything about the series and yet look how much influence he has over the fanbase. Donnel's popularity proves it.

It could very well be the casual Fire Emblem Awakening fans that had a major influence on Donnel's votes, not just a YouTuber. Remember when Awakening was all the rage in North America? Lots of casual players consider Donnel to be a "god" even when it's been proven that Donnel is a liability on higher difficulties and all that he really has going for him is the fact that he can give the Pegasus Knight class line to a female child. Underdog characters also tend to be pretty popular and just that a fair amount of people like Donnel in general.

[Sentinel07]

2 hours ago, Sire said:

Many thanks for translating and sharing this with us, Kirokan!

I enjoy the fact there will be more original characters added to FE:Heroes. However, I don't see it happening unless we get a story expansion. I thought it would have happened with the previous Focus change, but we got a different Paralogue instead. When will new story chapters come out?

The monthly characters and paralogues are a nice touch. A part of me is thinking they are using the "Splatoon" model, where there is lots of stuff made (and still being made) but may be held back to release everything over time. Although, I wonder when the event characters from "Choose Your Legends" will make their debut. I'm hoping before May, because I am sure there will be more of a focus on Gaiden because of Echoes being released.

I would think that new Story chapters should be no later than this Summer. Any longer and they'll be pushing their luck.

The Paralogues are nice but on their own they won't tide everyone forever. Plus, given the current model, we'll have 8 Paralogues by the end of May, and it'd be kind of strange to have more Paralogues than main Story chapters. Plus, the current characters that haven't been released and will likely be in Great Hero Battles (Ursula, Camus, Michalis, Navarre, and Zephiel) will be done by May given the bi-weekly model. Not to mention how Xander is being held back by the plot so who knows how long until people can add him.

So yeah, "Season 1" isn't going to have much left in the tank by summertime. They better add a fresh batch of content by then.

[Kirokan]

You're welcome everyone : ) Glad it came in handy!

3 hours ago, The DanMan said:

When the games involving him are going for twice the MSRP used, a lack of interest is understandable.

Anyways, not a whole lot but what is there is pretty neat. The devs are as confused by Etika as we are.

 

 

2 hours ago, Water Mage said:

Damn Etika, I really don't like the guy. I don't want to sound like an elitist and trust me I'm the furthest thing from it, but that guy barely knows anything about the series and yet look how much influence he has over the fanbase. Donnel's popularity proves it.

If it helps you any, I don't even know who or what Etika is. xD (They probably don't know me either though)

3 hours ago, Sentinel07 said:

I'm not entirely sure about that. I'd say this game has a good year in it, but beyond that who knows. I'd be surprised if it was still active by the time Fire Emblem Switch comes around.

Yes, it remains to be seen how much they can push this game.

[Truthblade]

12 minutes ago, Kirokan said:

You're welcome everyone : ) Glad it came in handy!

 

If it helps you any, I don't even know who or what Etika is. xD (They probably don't know me either though)

Yes, it remains to be seen how much they can push this game.

Etika is a youtuber who is seems to really push for the "waifu" aspects of Fire Emblem (at least in the modern games). I don't really watch him since he's a bit too vulgar for my tastes, but i did read about him (apparently he doesn't know the FE1 got a remake).

Edited March 2, 2017 by Blade_of_Light