Nintendo has just released the second in a series of developer videos for the recently released Fire Emblem Fates. In the first video, the developers of the three-part game discussed Birthright– the game that’s most commonly said to be more similar to Awakening. In this second episode, the developers have moved on to its counterpart– Conquest, and the kingdom of Nohr.
The video starts off with one of the developers of the plot, Mr. Maeda, discussing how Nohr works in contrast with Hoshido, the kingdom of Birthright. He describes Nohr as a “survival-of-the-fittest kind of kingdom,” and for anyone who’s played either version, that’s very, very apparent. He states that it especially shows through the characters that live there, which becomes very apparent as you play through either Birthright or Conquest.
Maeda also talks about the avatar’s role in the story, and the extremely unique and difficult position that they’re put in from the very start.
They continue on to talk about the design of Nohr and its inhabitants, and how decisions were made regarding colors and design patterns, among other things. However, with the avatar’s design, they were careful not to make anything feel as if it were veering towards one way or the other, as to keep the player “even-minded” until the decision to side with Hoshido or Nohr had to be made.
Many fans have also wondered why Corrin was designed barefoot, and we finally have an answer! The decision was made right off the bat after hearing that Corrin was of dragon descent, and the designers wanted them to have traits that seemed a bit animalistic. Also, it’s stated that they simply wanted a hook to have people question a particular decision!
Conquest’s gameplay was discussed as well, and something that’s addressed in particular is the ability to complete challenges in Birthright for extra EXP and gold, as opposed to Conquest’s lack of this feature. They claim that this was done to make Conquest a mental challenge, and that with limited resources, it would take more brainpower and strategy to get through the difficult chapters. The decision was also made so that players could choose a side to play, based on their own preferences. Interestingly enough, the series’ new Phoenix Mode was actually implemented because of Conquest’s difficulty!
It’s pretty cool getting to watch the people who develop these games talk about them firsthand, and hear about their own experiences with them. If you’d like to check out this video, you can find it here, as well as the first video in the developer’s series here! And, keep an eye on Nintendo’s official YouTube channel for the next installments of this series!
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Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
