TheCapsFan
C'est Comme Ça
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Fire Emblem is a tactical RPG series developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. Its stories are set in medieval style worlds, often featuring lords and other royalty as main characters, with the supporting cast interlocking middle-age military and commonfolk such as cavalry, swordsmen, and bandits, with fantasy-esque characters such as dragons, mages, and other mystical creatures and elements. Though its identity has changed much over the years, with each subsequent entry introducing or expanding upon unique qualities Fire Emblem's main draw is its gameplay, which features the player controlling a small barrage of units across a map to defeat larger armies. Fire Emblem is most notable for permadeath as a central feature in many of its games; once a unit dies, it can no longer be played for the remainder of the game.
From 1990 to 2002, the series was only available in Japan, spawning six games across three consoles. Upon the inclusion of Marth (the series mascot) and Roy (the main character from the sixth Fire Emblem game) in Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Nintendo GameCube, the series debuted in the West for the first time with Fire Emblem for the GameBoy Advance (or, as it is otherwise known, Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade). Subsequent entries would receive both Japanese and Western releases on the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.
However, declining sales numbers across both Japanese and Western audiences caused Intelligent Systems to re-evaluate the series' standing as a prominent focus for the studio; with the thought in mind that it would be the final Fire Emblem game, Nintendo released Fire Emblem: Awakening for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, which featured a large consolidation of many of the features unique to previous entries in the series. Fire Emblem: Awakening released to critical acclaim, marking a turning point in the series, garnering over 2 million in sales worldwide, and is touted by many as one of the best games for the 3DS system. Awakening's success spawned two more 3DS entries, a spinoff game, and the massive free-to-play mobile hit, Fire Emblem Heroes. Most recently, Nintendo released Fire Emblem: Three Houses for the Nintendo Switch, which introduced character management and customization systems a la Persona 5. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has garnered almost 3 million in sales worldwide and won the Best Strategy Game award at the 2019 Game Awards.
This thread will serve as the discussion hub for all things Fire Emblem, including but not limited to: news and updates on the series, questions and answers about the series or specific games within the series, progress updates and discussion on new runs of older games, and character shipping. I'll get it started with a few introductory questions:
- Have you ever played any Fire Emblem games? If so, which is your favorite? If not, what is your impression of the series?
- Fire Emblem has a gigantic roster of characters across its series; which are some of your favorites to use and why?
- What is your favorite part of Fire Emblem? The gameplay? The story? The character development and unique interactions between characters?
- Are you a fan of permadeath in Fire Emblem, or as a concept in general? Why or why not?
- Despite having the largest character roster of any Nintendo-published franchise outside of Pokemon, the number of Fire Emblem characters included in Super Smash Bros. has been a topic of debate for many fans of the latter series. Do you think Fire Emblem's representation in Smash is warranted? Why or why not?