Next Fire Emblem Will Be Split in Two

[StewShearerOld]

Next Fire Emblem Will Be Split in Two

The next Fire Emblem game will be split into two versions: White Kingdom and Black Kingdom.

Back at the beginning of 2015, Nintendo revealed that it had <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139457-Next-Fire-Emblem-Coming-to-3DS>a new Fire Emblem game in the works for its expanding 3DS handheld line. For franchise fans, it was a welcome announcement. Fire Emblem: Awakening, released in 2012, had been both <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/10165-Fire-Emblem-Awakening-Review>a critical and <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122726-Fire-Emblem-Awakening-Breaks-Franchise-Sales-Records>sales hit, refining the series' core mechanics while also adding in a whole slew of new features. The idea of another game continuing with and expanding on its successes was more than enough to leave veterans of Awakening chomping at the bit. Those same gamers might, in turn, be interested in new information indicating that there's not just one but two Fire Emblem games on the 3DS's horizon.

According to recent reports and a new trailer unveiled at the most recent Nintendo Direct stream, the Japanese version of the next Fire Emblem game will be called Fire Emblem If and be split into two versions that will release concurrently. The different versions will be dubbed White Kingdom and Black Kingdom, with each one focusing one side of a war between the nations of Hoshido and Nohr. The player, in the new game, will take on the role of a hero who was born in Hushido but raised by nobility in Nohr.

Depending on which faction you decide to side with, your experience will apparently differ significantly. Buying the White Kingdom will task the player with defending the peace-loving Hoshido and deliver an experience that should feel fairly standard to veterans of the series. Picking the Black Kingdom game, meanwhile, will side you with the war-mongering Nohr and provide a more challenging campaign centered around a mission to reform the kingdom from the inside. Players interested in playing both campaigns will be given the option of buying the other one as a piece of DLC.

What remains to be seen, of course, is if Nintendo will release <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/fire%20emblem?os=fire+emblem>Fire Emblem If similarly in the United States and the west at large. It will likewise be interesting to see how fans respond to the Pokemon-ification of the series. Personally speaking, as long as each version of the game presents a full and worthwhile experience, I say the more the merrier.

Fire Emblem If is slated to release in Japan <a href=http://gematsu.com/2015/04/fire-emblem-if-slated-for-2016-release>in 2016.

Source: Siliconera


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[Scarim Coral]

Sure you mention Pokemon (I guess it's Black and White in this case) but you make it sound as White being easy mode while Black is hard mode?

Either way, whoever that violet girl sided on (at 1.20) will be the version I will be getting (boobs)!

Also if it truly has become Pokemon, would that means there could be a third game in the making in the not so far future?

 

[Thorn14]

If I was Japanese I would be pissed. Thats really scummy that they make a route split 2 different games AND you have to pay for DLC for the other versions.

 

[Aerosteam]

I like split storylines, especially if each star a different cast of characters and then at the end all of them merge together. Radiant Dawn did this. In this case... I'm not sure. I would have preferred fighting both sides AS both sides then at one point have to team up to take on a larger evil. Props for them doing something new I guess.

I'd have to see how they handle the DLC of the other story. Do you start the game again? Do you keep all stats and characters when you begin? If one version is easier than the other, how does the DLC follow that? Do both versions have the same missions but start at different locations in them? Will buying the DLC increase the number of waifus available in one game? Which version has that red haired character?

 

[SupahEwok]

If I was Japanese I would be pissed. Thats really scummy that they make a route split 2 different games AND you have to pay for DLC for the other versions.

It'll depend.If it turns out they made each campaign 15 missions long and padded it out with random encounters like Awakening, yeah, fire and pitchforks. If they're making 2 almost completely separate games, or hell, even 2/3-3/4 length games (compared to other Fire Emblem games), then it would be a bargain, depending on how they price the other campaigns. We'll see.

 

[Erttheking]

That seems really shitty. Hope they combine the two when they export it to the west. I like the idea of making a choice in this game, but not at at the freaking register.

Better look up a picture of an angry homer Simpson just in case this happens overseas.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

If I was Japanese I would be pissed. Thats really scummy that they make a route split 2 different games AND you have to pay for DLC for the other versions.

Except this is nothing new for Nintendo and far from scummy. Back in the GBC days they had the Oracle series for The Legend of Zelda which offered two games with radically different design that exchanged info in order to bring data over to the other game including to get the true ending. Heck, there were supposed to be THREE games but the password system was proving to be a nightmare so they cut it down to two titles. The games were resounding successes financially and critically.

It's quite clear FE if is of that philosophy because the two campaigns are radically different both in design and narrative. For Hoshido it's going to be a more straightforward narrative with a world map in the vein of Awakening and be easier in difficulty. Going with Nohr has you trying to reform the nation from the inside, be a lot harder, and have more of a linear style like the older games. You're getting two completely different games that are full on their own. Heck, unlike Oracles you don't have to get both cartridges and can get the other story for a discount.

Anyway, looking to be a very different Fire Emblem what with the idea of conflicting loyalties. As I said on another thread:

Oh, fuck you, Kibayashi, you're setting me up for an emotional gut punch in this game, aren't you? Both of the little sisters are adorable and the rest of the siblings clearly love the protagonist. Hoo-boy, that decision is going leave some people emotionally wrecked if they pull this off and could bring a truly heart-wrenching and emotional tale to the series. That's some serious stuff; only being able to choose one family, leaving behind and perhaps even outright betraying them. The people who raised you and regard you as family in spite of being a foreigner or the ones who are of your blood and still love you despite being raised by another nation. I haven't seen a moral choice of that magnitude since Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. Man, I'm gonna have to think about which side to pick

 

[Jeyl]

Can we have gay weddings in this one?

 

[gigastar]

It always did strike me as odd that Nintendo didnt break up more of its games to sell as different versions like that.

Regardless, i doubt its going to put off many people. I do know 3 people who always buy both Pokemon versions as they roll out after all.

Personally, ill only know the results of this when i hear either the accolades or the shitstorms surrounding this game.

 

[All Hail Lelouch]

You forgot to mention that there will be a third campaign released as DLC, Basically a "Kill them all" Scenario where you choose neither side and make your own path.

 

[Zeraki]

I still haven't finished Awakening, I enjoy it but SRPGs aren't exactly my usual cup of tea so I tend to suck at them.

You forgot to mention that there will be a third campaign released as DLC, Basically a "Kill them all" Scenario where you choose neither side and make your own path.

So you'll essentially be the SRPG equivalent of Lu Bu, sounds fun to me.

 

[Aerosteam]

Can we have gay weddings in this one?

I think you need to ask if there are gay/bi characters first...

 

[ecoho]

I have a feeling the west will get all 3 in one though itll cost more. Also calling it now they will release a special edition new 3ds with this game on it.

 

[freakonaleash]

So basically they want you to buy the game twice.

 

[MCerberus]

Can we have gay weddings in this one?

And without the generational kids there's no reason to not ship madly.
Truly we're on the cusp of the greatest shipping simulator ever created. Plus there's probably going to be a strategy game in there somewhere

 

[Fox12]

Hmmm. I don't know about this.

If both games are just as long as awakening, and feature an entire separate cast of playable characters, and the campaigns are totally different... then this could work. I'd buy both version. Besides, playing the game from separate perspectives could be interesting, and even tragic.

If it's the same game split in two, however? Then this is awful. Terrible business practice. Nintendo is just as bad as Ubisoft sometimes. I don't know why their fans defend them when they do things like this.

 

[MrMan999]

So just to clarify, this is gonna be an Oracle of Seasons/Ages thing? If so this could work.

 

[Azure Knight-Zeo]

So just to clarify, this is gonna be an Oracle of Seasons/Ages thing? If so this could work.

Pretty much, except you can download the one you didn't get for a discount.

 

[BakaSmurf]

Ye Gods, first Golden Sun Dark Dawn, then Fire Emblem Awakening, then Majora's Mask, now this? The negatives of not purchasing a Nintendo hand held are starting to become eclipsed by the positives. Pretty soon I'm not going to be able to resist the temptation. 'Dat Dark Side campaign ain't helping matters either...

 

[shintakie10]

Ye Gods, first Golden Sun Dark Dawn, then Fire Emblem Awakening, then Majora's Mask, now this? The negatives of not purchasing a Nintendo hand held are starting to become eclipsed by the positives. Pretty soon I'm not going to be able to resist the temptation. 'Dat Dark Side campaign ain't helping matters either...

Honestly curious. What are the negatives of getting a 3DS?