The article does ask a good question on the sort of conundrum that could become an identity crisis thst fire emblem has rode itself into with the steady inclusion of social aspects in their games ever since Awakening.
Personally I would be in favor of keeping the model they developed in 3 houses while refining it further with the game mechanics they developed in engage. I’d also like to keep the whole marriage and matchmaker aspect that we saw in awakening and fates out unless they figure out how to tastefully weave it into the storyline.
And while it would take too much gamedev time to implement it, it would be interesting to whether or not its possible to blend and synergize the fire emblem strategy game aspect with some of the musou aspects they’ve been lately dabbling in. I’m thinking akin to how the Total War series handles army battles but making the choices of how to play each battle as being either classic turn-based tactical mode or going full musou hack’n’slash nonsense as options for gameplay.
I’d also like to keep the whole marriage and matchmaker aspect that we saw in awakening and fates out unless they figure out how to tastefully weave it into the storyline.
I think Genealogy of the Holy War best (and first) implemented the kids thing. There’s a time skip, and your party in the second part of the game is composed of the kids of the first party (if they paired up) and new characters, too. I could gush on about FE4 when I have more time lol.
I’m thinking akin to how the Total War series handles army battles but making the choices of how to play each battle as being either classic turn-based tactical mode or going full musou hack’n’slash nonsense as options for gameplay.
My memory is hazy, but I think Divinity: Dragon Commander had something like this? A turn based strategy map, RTS battles, and you can activate your commander as a hero unit you directly control.
I was thinking of naming genealogy but since I never played it I didn’t want to presume what I didn’t know for fact.
And divinity dragon commander would indeed be along the lines of experimentality I was thinking of but probably more fire emblem-esque in game play and general style.
I’d definitely recommend Genealogy to fans of Three Houses that can tolerate unadulterated 90s JRPG. A lot of the concepts from 3H come from Genealogy - the main characters went to a school together like in 3H, the time skip, the legendary weapons. Using a guide is perfectly acceptable since it has some stupid hidden secrets that make the game a lot easier.
I remember finding the silly princess bit in DDC kinda fun. The skeleton girl has a bunch of different forms depending on how you address the illness she has. I’d like to see the romance in FE become a little more VN’ey, if that makes sense (although, this isn’t really my genre)
It’s interesting that, at least to me, it seems like many people don’t want a game with multiple strong aspects, either because they don’t believe the developers can achieve it or because they don’t like those aspects. I could see a Fire Emblem game with good story, good combat, and even romance/matchmaking for those who wish to seek it out. Though it would be interesting to see if they might take a Baldur’s Gate style approach where you can roam around the world, talk to people, and have different kinds of interactions, with combat still being turn-based. This could be trickier with a whole grid and more units, but I think it could be done.
I think for the latter bit you can either take a more d&d style for your turn-based combat or do whatever it is valkyria chronicles games do with their turn-based ww2 shooter movement and combat-wise
