Ask the Developer Vol. 23: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave — Part 1 – News

• This article has been translated from the unique Japanese content material.

• This interview was performed earlier than the sport was launched.

In this twenty third quantity of Ask the Developer, an interview sequence by which builders convey in their very own phrases Nintendo’s ideas about creating merchandise and the uncommon particulars they hone in on, we’re speaking to the builders behind Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, a Nintendo Switch 2 unique sport that launches on Thursday, September seventeenth, 2026.

First, can I ask everybody to briefly introduce yourselves?

Toshiyuki Kusakihara (known as Kusakihara from this level on): Hello. I’m Toshiyuki Kusakihara from Intelligent Systems (1). As with Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2), I’m the director on the Intelligent Systems facet for Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave.

(1) Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. An organization that has developed Nintendo video games, together with the Fire Emblem and Paper Mario sequence. They have additionally created software program growth assist instruments for Nintendo techniques. Headquartered in Kyoto. Also generally known as “IS” (pronounced like the phrase “is”).

(2) A Nintendo Switch title launched in July 2019. Fire Emblem: Three Houses is split into two components. In the first half, the participant takes on the function of a professor at the Officers Academy, situated at the middle of Fódlan, a continent made up of three ruling powers. After selecting a home to guide, every representing certainly one of the ruling powers, the participant helps the college students develop and guides them. The second half is ready 5 years later and depicts a battle amongst the three nations, with a special perspective relying on the home you select to guide.

Masahiro Higuchi (known as Higuchi from this level on): Hi, I’m Masahiro Higuchi from Intelligent Systems. I’ve served as a producer on a number of current titles in the Fire Emblem sequence, and I’m additionally concerned on this title as the producer on the Intelligent Systems facet.

Genki Yokota (known as Yokota from this level on): Hi, I’m Genki Yokota from Nintendo. I served as a producer on this title. Previously, I used to be a director on Fire Emblem: Three Houses and a producer on Fire Emblem Engage (3).

(3) A Nintendo Switch sport launched in January 2023. The Divine Dragon Alear, the sport’s protagonist, joins forces with allies from completely different kingdoms and attracts on the energy of the Emblems, heroes from different worlds who reside in the Emblem Rings, to forestall the revival of the Fell Dragon.

Kenta Nakanishi (known as Nakanishi from this level on): Hello. I’m Kenta Nakanishi from Nintendo. I used to be concerned on this title as the affiliate producer. My function was someplace between producer and director. I helped coordinate the general move of growth and proposed concepts for the sport’s design and gameplay.

Thank you very a lot. Yokota-san, might you begin by giving us a short overview of this title?

Yokota: Sure. The Fire Emblem sequence is a part of the tactical RPG style. It combines RPG-type character growth, formed by the participant’s selections, with flip-primarily based battles by which gamers transfer characters throughout a grid-primarily based battlefield and command them in battle. A defining function of the sequence is that each alternative the participant makes impacts the characters’ progress and the way the battle performs out. In Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, the story unfolds throughout 4 parallel paths, every advised from the perspective of a special protagonist. Players can freely change between the 4 paths as they collect allies, construct their very own final staff, and tackle their enemies.

Kusakihara: The story of this title takes place on the continent of Dagda, which lies south of Fódlan, the setting of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. There, the Dagdan Empire stands as an enormous nation dominated by gods. In the first half of the sport, warriors from numerous lands collect in its capital, Dagsion, to compete for victory in the Heroic Games. As Yokota-san touched on earlier, the sport has 4 paths. Through them, gamers observe the tales of 4 warriors from completely different lands, with every story advised from its protagonist’s perspective.

Nakanishi: In the latter half of the sport, the characters that gamers have recruited throughout the 4 paths finally come collectively as a single pressure, shifting towards one widespread objective. In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, gamers select certainly one of three homes, every related to certainly one of three main powers, and develop the characters in that home. Ultimately, these three nations come to face opposed to at least one one other.

So that will place this title in the identical world as Fire Emblem: Three Houses, proper, regardless of their contrasting narrative buildings?

Higuchi: That’s proper. While this title is ready in a world linked to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, each the time interval and the area are completely different. We developed the sport with the tenet that gamers ought to be capable of absolutely get pleasure from it as a standalone title, even when they don’t seem to be acquainted with Fire Emblem: Three Houses. So somewhat than pondering of it as a sequel, we’d like gamers to see it as a brand new title.

Kusakihara: We have been very lucky that so many gamers loved Fire Emblem: Three Houses, however at the identical time, we had an unlimited sense of duty. We spent loads of time questioning how we might create one thing that will surpass it. So initially, we got here up with the daring thought of accelerating the variety of story views from three to eight. The three powers in Fire Emblem: Three Houses are essentially at odds with each other. This time, we determined to take the reverse method, with the tales unfolding alongside every path finally coming collectively into one. From there, we labored to refine the idea.

Yokota: Suddenly going from three views to eight is a reasonably large soar. Kusakihara-san had actually developed a transparent theme for every protagonist, and I felt it might result in one thing actually fascinating. But with eight protagonists, there was virtually an excessive amount of we might do… It appeared like gamers would have lots to maintain observe of, which might make the sport really feel difficult. So, we determined to place the concentrate on 4 of these protagonists as an alternative.

You talked about that though this title is linked to the world of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, it’s set in a special area. How did you go about constructing Dagda as a setting?

Yokota: As Higuchi-san mentioned, from the starting, our intention was to not make a easy sequel to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, however to create a brand new title set in the identical world. And since the story could be solely separate, we felt that the very first thing we should always do was give the sport a totally completely different really feel.

Kusakihara: Right. Fódlan, the setting of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, was a strict world that positioned nice significance on doctrines. In distinction, with Dagda, the setting of Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, we aimed to create a spot stuffed with freedom and vitality, the place folks dwell energetically below blue skies and the blazing solar. We needed to seize the type of life pressure and vitality typically related to folks from an earlier age. For the constructing designs, Fire Emblem: Three Houses was impressed by Eastern Europe from the medieval interval onward, whereas this title drew inspiration from the historical Mediterranean area. I believe one other main distinction from Fire Emblem: Three Houses is that in Dagda, folks worship a number of gods, and people gods additionally coexist with people.

Nakanishi: At the identical time, there are additionally parts from Fire Emblem: Three Houses that we carried over. Traditionally, Fire Emblem video games have been structured in order that the story begins with a small group, and the forged progressively grows over time. By distinction, in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, virtually all of the characters are launched in the early phases of the sport, and gamers construct their staff by selecting allies from amongst them. We thought this construction, the place virtually all of the characters have been launched in the early phases of the sport, was certainly one of the issues that labored effectively in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

So, we tried to hold over that method as a lot as we might for this title.

Kusakihara: What I needed to depict on this title was how folks select to guide their lives, virtually like a grand historic drama by which the intentions of many various folks and nations intertwine and set historical past in movement. That’s precisely why I needed to extend the variety of views from which the story is advised. This title options all kinds of individuals with completely different backgrounds, together with age, origin, and ethnicity. The enviornment, an essential setting on this title, is the place all these folks come collectively.

Higuchi: The Fire Emblem sequence has typically featured arenas as locations the place distinctive characters collect and attempt towards a shared objective. In this title’s Heroic Games, many various folks, together with the 4 protagonists, every combat for their very own causes. I believe the enviornment additionally works very effectively as a setting that helps drive the story.

I see. Could you inform us extra about the tales that unfold round every of the 4 protagonists?

Kusakihara: Many folks collect for the Heroic Games of the Dagdan Empire, however the 4 protagonists are: Cai, a boy from the peaceable village of Ribeira; Dietrich, a swordsman from the international land of Fódlan; Theodora, the younger queen of the Kingdom of Saramis; and Leda, a bard whose homeland was taken from her.

Cai leaves his village along with his childhood pals to unravel the thriller of his beginning and grows considerably via the battles of the Heroic Games. Dietrich is an distinctive swordsman who occurs to scrub up in Dagda after surviving a shipwreck. He lives for battle, so when he hears about the Heroic Games, he leaps at the probability to participate. Dietrich’s story is a couple of man with a type of self-damaging impulse, somebody who solely feels alive in the midst of battle, and the way he comes to find bonds with others in the land of Dagda. The Kingdom of Saramis, dominated by Theodora, was based via a fancy historical past involving the Dagdan Empire and the gods. She joins the Heroic Games with the intention of fulfilling a protracted-held want of her folks. Leda, in the meantime, is a passionate girl who has devoted herself solely to revenge. After discovering that the one who killed her father and destroyed her metropolis continues to be alive in Dagsion, she enters the Heroic Games to hold out her revenge.

As every of the protagonists takes on the Heroic Games, the motives and conspiracies of these round them turn out to be intricately intertwined, driving the story ahead.

I see. So, every of the 4 protagonists has a really completely different story, however these tales all come collectively in a single place. But this title would not start with these 4 protagonists. Instead, it begins with the participant character Eshmel. How did this character come about?

Kusakihara: Eshmel performs a barely completely different function from the 4 protagonists. The sport begins with the participant controlling Eshmel, however to be sincere, this character did not even exist till partway via growth. Eshmel was one other protagonist we added proper at the finish. Our preliminary thought was that gamers would select whichever of the 4 protagonists they favored after which hold preventing with that protagonist via to the finish. But one thing about that by no means fairly felt proper to me. The concern was that it didn’t actually really feel like the 4 tales have been coming collectively into one in a satisfying manner. As I discussed earlier, as soon as the sport reaches its second half, the story comes collectively into one, and the 4 protagonists collect in a single place. But even after that, if we continued to observe the story via every of their particular person views, it simply would not have felt prefer it matched the idea of a number of tales converging into one. That led us to understand that we would have liked one other character who might take a broader view of all 4 protagonists. So, our pondering was, “If we just had one more person, all the stories would come together nicely!” And that is how Eshmel was born. We have been already midway via growth, however I went to the staff and mentioned, “Sorry, but we’re adding one more character.” (Laughs)

Four protagonists is already a tall order, and there you go including one other one.

Kusakihara: But because of that, we have been in a position to set up the general move of the story. It now begins with a prologue by which Eshmel descends as a savior right into a world that has fallen below the rule of the underworld. From there, Eshmel goes again to the previous, helps the 4 protagonists who maintain the key to the story, recruits them as allies, and takes on the ultimate battle.

Nakanishi: Having every path’s protagonist lead the manner towards the ultimate battle would’ve been fascinating, too. But we would have liked a personality who might have a look at the complete image, like the professor in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I believe including that character made the general construction simpler to know, with the concept that Eshmel helps the 4 protagonists rebuild a world that has fallen aside.

Yokota: Before Eshmel got here into the image, the story wasn’t constructed round returning to the previous, proper?

Kusakihara: Right. Back then, it was only a story that moved towards the future. But as soon as Eshmel was added, we had a transparent objective. Eshmel would return in time, collect data and experiences from the previous, and finally carry the 4 protagonists’ tales collectively into one. In that manner, the thought of “weaving everything together” turned a part of each the gameplay and the story, and I believe we have been in a position to make the two match collectively rather well.

Read extra in Part 2: Weaving experiences into a single outcome