Welp. Never in a million years did I think we’d see four FE games in development at once (five if you count the 3DS port of FE: Warriors). The FE2 remake (aka FE15) as a lead was undoubtedly a curve ball to everybody who tuned in. FE16 is in development for Nintendo Switch. Oh, and there’ll be a nice little mobile app that you’ll presumably play twice before hitting an inevitable paywall.
The Fire Emblem Direct was full of surprises; first and foremost, the notion that FE would be important enough to Nintendo for them to devote an entire presentation to it is completely crazy. For veterans who have lived through the series’ near-cancellation due to declining sales figures, the mere thought would have stunned us just five years ago. What an odd time it is, indeed. Once on the brink of cancellation, unexpected and unprecedented success has brought the Fire Emblem series to new heights.
A Gaiden remake? It’s a very exciting prospect, but be careful to temper expectations. Intelligent Systems does not exactly have the best track record in terms of remaking Fire Emblem games. Although, it would be quite nice to see them finally deliver on the promise of a substantive remake.
But as for the most important question that I’m sure is burning on everyone’s minds: Will there be an avatar? Some fans claim that evidence can be found in the reveal trailer that points to the possibility of one. There is a fourth civilian character whose name possibly translates to a pronunciation of “FE”, hinting that the character may in fact be a low-key iteration of the avatar character. Previously, the avatar character has been featured prominently on box art and in promotional material.
FE: Warriors will be interesting to keep an eye on. It’ll be substantially disappointing if they keep it restricted to Archanean, Ylissean, and Nolorean characters. Maybe we can hope for Alm and Celica in the base game? Oh well, there’s always DLC.
FE16 will be coming soon to Nintendo Switch. Haven’t seen any footage of it yet, so there’s not much to say. FE: Mobile will be milking parents’ wallets for all they’re worth sooner than that. At least the character art is pretty dope?
Discuss. Idk, I’m probably too cynical at this point.