The Bizarre Transformation of Fire Emblem
In December of 2001, American gamers were treated to one of the most beloved video games of all time, Super Smash Bros. Melee. Melee stands as a truly legendary yet peculiar game in Nintendo’s long legacy. I say “peculiar” because Nintendo isn’t really well known for their highly competitive games- but Melee remains arguably their most competitive game ever.
Not only that, but Americans were befuddled by two characters they had no context for- Marth and Roy. Now of course, if you were on the primitive internet or reading gaming magazines, you probably understood that this duo came from a Japanese exclusive tactical-RPG series known as “Fire Emblem”.
It wouldn’t be for another two years that Western gamers were treated to their first Fire Emblem game, simply titled Fire Emblem in the West (titled Blazing Blade in Japan). This was actually the seventh game in the series; with the origins of the franchise starting on the Famicom. As any diehard JRPG fan may know, the mid to late 2000’s was a rough time for the genre. Gamers were falling in love with western titles like Gears of War, Uncharted, God of War, Call of Duty, and Bioshock. The atmosphere, storytelling, and pure action fixation of these titles felt vastly different than the Japanese fare players were feasting on during the 90s.
This RPG decline of course affected Fire Emblem. It’s a well known fact that the series was on a sharp decline during this time. It got so bad that Fire Emblem Awakening was being developed as a swan song for the series- the last entry!
But luckily, tons of gamers like me were convinced to buy Awakening and quickly fell in love with it. I think it my first tactical game ever (I can’t quite remember), and in typical Nintendo fashion, it wasn’t too difficult. This allowed me to get pulled into the unique style of gameplay without feeling overwhelmed. I fell in love with the characters, story, and use of time travel.
I had also never played a game with a “Support” system before; which allows two units to form a bond by fighting together on the battlefield. This bond lets the units grow stronger buffs while working together and become unstoppable. You could even form a romantic bond which thanks to the time travel element of the game, allows older versions of these units children to join you. Depending on which characters and abilities and buffs you form this romantic bond with, you could create some amazing units.
I know, I know….. romance and friendships in an RPG? It’s played out, right? But you have to remember- this was four years before Persona 5 blew the entire concept up in mainstream limelight. But the support system in Fire Emblem existed well before 2012’s Awakening.
Fire Emblem maintained this unique aura amongst the Nintendo franchises. It felt slightly more anime than the likes of Mario and Zelda. But thankfully, on a “anime scale” of one to ten, Fire Emblem always felt like a four or a five. Yes you’ll have the green hair and a few exuberant personalities, but not much more. The character designs felt mostly restrainted, the plots felt political, and the gameplay fascinating.
Awakening arguably turned that anime scale up to a seven or so. But almost immediately after Awakening, Fire Emblem Fates jacked up the anime scale to a ten. It doubled down on the dating sim aspects and the character designs became…..well….
I think it’s fairly obvious what happened. Again, before Persona 5 even released, Nintendo was observant enough to notice that people loved the romance of Awakening. Not only that, but the early 2010’s was the beginning of the anime craze that would take over the West and still dominate in 2026. Fire Emblem became Nintendo’s Persona before people could even label it as such.
2019’s Fire Emblem Three Houses dialed it up even more with a school setting- anime cultures favorite setting. In between battles you could walk around this school and interact with your students.
Three Houses was a massive success, and I believe that Engage was rushed out the door to retain Fire Emblem fans attention. Fire Emblem has successfully become Nintendo’s fifth or sixth most important IP- after the likes of Pokémon, Mario, Zelda, and Animal Crossing,
I bring all this up because last night I decided to boot up Fire Emblem on my GBA. Last year I finished Sacred Stones and loved it. So I figured it was time to play Fire Emblem 7. And it’s certainly a bit of a shock to the system to see these more reserved character designs, plotlines, and dialogue when compared to the modern Fire Emblem.
I’m not here to be an old man and say that things were better back in the day. But I do wish Fire Emblem dialed back the weeby nature of its titles a bit. By playing into its anime tones, I think Nintendo lost a series that on its best days, could be seen as the best tactical RPG series out there. I’m not saying that the anime-ness takes away from the gameplay, but the school setting of Three Houses and reliance on supports has definitely tampered with the pacing of recent entries. But nonetheless, I still enjoy the series and can’t wait for the next entry.
