Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia has been available on 3DS for nearly two weeks now, and as the curtain closes on the series’ Nintendo 3DS presence, developer Intelligent Systems can’t help but chat about its latest game as well as where the franchise is headed.
In an interview with USGamer, Shadows of Valentia director Toshiyuki Kusakihara spoke extensively on the origins of the NES remake, how it came to be, as well as what to expect on Switch. In particular, he had the following to say regarding the yet-to-be-named Switch strategy RPG.
“The last three games have been played by a lot of people, and we’re very grateful for that. You may also know that [a new Fire Emblem] is also going to be released on the Switch, and that it’s going to be looking beautiful with great graphics, so we hope you will look forward to that as well.”
On the surface this may seem unsurprising: what game doesn’t strive for “great graphics?” If you consider Fire Emblem‘s history, however, the statement is quite substantial. In recent years the series has thrived primarily on handheld consoles, and while it did brave both the GameCube and Wii with Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn respectively, those titles hardly fit the “beautiful with great graphics” threshold. Despite being fine games with — as is common for the series — top-notch character art, their polygonal graphics during battle and map portions left something to be desired.
Meanwhile, the 3DS titles upped the 3D ante in battles and opted for a classic 2D look with pixelated sprites for maps, so it will be interesting to see what Intelligent Systems is able to conjure in rebirthing the franchise on Switch. Keeping visual fidelity in mind from the start is certainly a good sign.
Nintendo 3DS and the lineage of Nintendo clamshells has nearly reached an end, so here’s hoping the rapidly growing Fire Emblem franchise jumps tracks to Switch successfully. The upcoming Switch Fire Emblem title is expected sometime during 2018 – ideally we’ll learn more by the end of the year (or, if Nintendo feels generous, at E3).
