‘Wasn’t making numbers’
Fire Emblemhas a rich history, with 11 titles and 25 years to its name. However, around the turn of the decade, Nintendo planned to kill off the series, as it just wasn’t successful enough.Awakeningchanged those plans rather quickly.
In anIwata Asksinterview with Intelligent Systems and Nintendo, producer Hitoshi Yamagami says thatFire Emblem Awakeningwas to be the franchise’s swan song. He stated “Hatano-san, who was working as the head of the sales department, he said ‘TheEmblemseries isn’t making the numbers, so this is going to be the last one.’ And the members said ‘This is going to be the last one, so let’s put in everything we want so we don’t have any regrets. Then we had a big list of different things, ‘I want to do this’ and ‘I wanna do this,’ and the result wasAwakening.”
That kitchen sink approach worked, and it resulted in a game that sold incredibly well both in Japan and in the west. In fact, sales were so high that Hatano-san immediately asked “When’s the next one coming out?” Yamagami explains that the developer was of the understanding that it would be the last game in the franchise. Hatano-san responded “Of course. That’s how sales works. If something sells, we start asking for the next installment.” So, that’s when Intelligent Systems started thinking about the game that isFire Emblem Fates.
Despite the sales success, one of the main complaints aboutAwakeninginvolves its pared-down narrative. Intelligent Systems is combating that withFatesby implementing a story with three different paths.Awakeningmay not have done story perfectly, but it did it well enough to give the series new life.
