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| Scott Clay |
They also explain a bit about some of the new features.
05.17.15 - 3:37 AM
Thanks to a recent interview with Famitsu, the developers of Fire Emblem If explained a bit more on the need for creating the new Phoenix Mode. As previously reported, the White Kingdom version of the game is meant to be more simple then it's counterpart Black Kingdom, so it would make sense for Fire Emblem fans to pick up the Black Kingdom. The developers however don't necessarily see it that way.
"Just because the way it's played is different doesn't mean that Black Kingdom is overwhelmingly more difficult by any means," said director Kohei Maeda. "By playing on a normal difficulty and in Casual mode, even those that are playing the series for the first time will be able to enjoy it."
"The chapters and story volume of White Kingdom, Black Kingdom, and the third scenario all have about the same amount as Fire Emblem Awakening, so I think that it'll definitely be worth downloading all of them," added co-director Genki Yokota.
Famitsu then asked about the addition of Phoenix mode, and the developers responded saying that it is a mode that is meant to help new players to the series adjust to the game.
"Looking back at our previous titles up until Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, they were created with an emphasis on ‘this is the way Fire Emblem should be'," said producer Masahiro Higuchi. "While that is good in its own way, if you analyze it, you'll find that it creates this problem of making it more difficult to reach new customers."
"We'd like to have more and more fans of videogames get to enjoy Fire Emblem," he continued. "That idea is even bigger now than it was with Fire Emblem Awakening, and with Fire Emblem If, we'd like to have a widening of our horizons serve as the foundation for the game, and this is one of the concepts that went into its development."
Maeda added," "I felt that being able to revive on the next turn, which is the Phoenix mode, should be forbidden in a Fire Emblem; however, when you think about players that might think ‘I'm interested, but it looks difficult, so it might be impossible for me,' it's necessary to have something that can let them think ‘maybe with this even I could play'. That's the idea that led to it."
Players should also not that Phoenix mode will also not stop them from achieving anything in the game as well. All endings and all extra's can be unlocked while playing the mode. You can even switch from Classic to Phoenix at any time but not vice versa. Once you get off the roller coaster that is Classic mode, you can't just hop back on.
The interview then moved away from Phoenix mode on to some of the the other new features of Fire Emblem If. For starters the developers made a game with multiple stories for a reason. The Fire Emblem series started out as a story about the war between nations where you got to move the pieces on the battlefield, but this time around they wanted to allow you to change the outcome of the story as well. It's something they wanted to do for sometime.
Producer Masahiro Higurchi stated, "We took on that challenge with things like Casual mode in the previous games, which lets you adjust the difficulty, and have been thinking of other approaches since then as well. That's when we got the idea that if we could have players make a choice between a story that is split into two, it would add another element for them to enjoy. And we felt that it would be nice to be able to change the difficulty and the way the two games are played, and that’s how the two Ifs came to be."
Not only will the story change but there is also the notion that allies in one version will be strong enemies in the other. The third scenario will also not require you to complete the other two, but Higuchi heavily suggests that you do to get a better understanding of the entire story.
Players will be happy to know that the Arena will also be making a comeback in the game, but instead of experience points players will be fighting for something completely different. The recently announced Dragon Pulse ability given to royalty characters will be given to 8 different characters. Depending on the map a ton of different things could happen, and in some cases enemy characters can use them as well.
Fire Emblem If If comes out for the 3DS on June 26, 2015 in Japan in sometime in 2016 in North America and Europe.
