The Conversation That Led To The Fire Emblem/SMT Crossover
The award for E3’s Weirdest Trailer must go to the new one for the Fire Emblem / Shin Megami Tensei crossover game, now given the baffling moniker of “Genei Ibun Roku # FE” (which could still change in localization). When a series full of permadeath and a series where you once had to summon monsters by shooting yourself in the head clashed, no one expected the result to be a singing, dancing, JPOP sparklefest.
And yet, no one seems to mind. Reaction to the trailer online from fans of both series was mostly positive. Yet how did we get to this point, and how did the project take such a left turn?
Gamespot looked into it and interviewed Nintendo group manager Hitoshi Yamagami at E3. He told them it all started when Atlus was working with Nintendo on a small decorative photography app for the DSi. One Nintendo employee, who really loved the SMT series, approached Mr. Yamagami and said she really, really wanted to make a game that mixed Fire Emblem and SMT together. Yamagami was intrigued by the idea, but Atlus initially shot the idea down.
Two years later, Atlus called Nintendo back up to say they changed their minds. It turned out they couldn’t take on the project because they were busy with other games, but once their schedule was a little freer, they had the manpower to squeeze it in.
So how’d it turn out the way it turned out? Genei Ibun Roku # FE started as a turn-based strategy game, like everyone expected, but neither party felt it was special or different enough to warrant making the crossover necessary. It was decided that they should do something they couldn’t do normally with either series, and the idea of setting it in modern Japan came up.
From there they incorporated the Fire Emblem characters as Persona-like entities called Mirages. But why the pop idol stuff? Atlus says “This is why the characters are all entertainers: in Japan, similar to Greek mythology, there’s the idea of the gods being connected to the arts. The idea is, Japanese priestesses would dance and the dancing would bring them closer to the gods. We wanted to spin this in an Atlus way, so all the characters in the game have some connection to the arts, and that connection and their ability to express themselves attracts the Mirages to them. People who are good at singing or dancing or acting have really strong bonds with Mirages.”
Despite how wildly different the final product is turning out, Yamagami feels Fire Emblem fans will feel right at home. “What I’m most proud about this game is the fact that despite everything that we’ve said about it, as you play through the story, you’ll realize that, what happens happens for a reason, because this game is inspired by Fire Emblem,” he said. “So as a Fire Emblem fan, you’ll recognize why things are happening; it’s happening because it’s Fire Emblem.”