The New Fire Emblem’s Three Development Houses
It was known that Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the newest game in the franchise which released nearly two weeks ago worldwide, was handled by three game development houses: Intelligent Systems, Nintendo, and Koei Tecmo. This was a notable change from previous installments, developed by Intelligent Systems with a little outside help from Nintendo and, occasionally, small outsourcing companies. The big question here was exactly how much every studio contributed to the game.
Before release, it appeared that Intelligent Systems was handling most of the creative work, with Koei Tecmo providing grunt work. It wouldn’t be a surprise if IS needed some assistance for this particular case, the franchise’s first HD console installment. Given how large the game reportedly is, it was sure to be a development resource hog.
Turns out, that assumption was wrong. Nintendo director Genki Yokota and Intelligent Systems director Toshiyuki Kusakihara sat down for a post-release interview with Japan’s Famitsu magazine to discuss the game’s development, helpfully transcribed by Nintendo Everything. Yokota mentioned how its development required “extra time,” likely thanks to IS’ FE team not being that familiar with HD console development. Since Koei Tecmo was already working on Fire Emblem Warriors for both companies at the time, they asked KT creator and producer Kou Shibusawa to help them by using another one of their teams. But they provided more than grunt work: Kusakihara explained how Koei Tecmo handled most of the development, while a small IS team assisted.
This is shown in the game’s credits (which I won’t link here due to spoilers). A mere 17 IS employees were involved in the development, while a few staffers from Nintendo were part of it. Everyone else in the credits worked for Koei Tecmo, in a listing full of names. This is notably contrary to what Yokota implied to VG247 mere weeks before its release and this particular interview was published, where he claimed that “after a lot of discussion with Koei Tecmo, [they] figured out all of the details, and Koei Tecmo helped with programming the game.” They did more than simply “help.”
There’s a perfectly good reason why IS and Nintendo implied this: They know how many fans would jump to hasty conclusions about its potential quality if they were forthcoming about KT’s involvement. The vocal FE fans are very meticulous about how they like FE games structured, and some would have cancelled their preorders out of fear that it could turn out underwhelming due to company inexperienced with the franchise’s strategy titles working on it. Others would have concluded that FE Warriors team members were working on it, a title some vocal FE fans didn’t enjoy due to preferring strategic gameplay over action-based combat despite its status as a spinoff. Warriors was primarily developed by KT subsidiaries Omega Force and Team Ninja, while KT and IS staffers assisted.
At least a few members of the FE Warriors team did contribute to parts of Three Houses, specifically the scenario writing, but the interview seems to imply that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms team primarily worked on it. This makes sense considering the game is about three warring kingdoms that protagonist Byleth has the choice of aligning with.
Koei Tecmo has, in fact, made several strategy games and strategy RPGs in the past. In addition to the RotTK series (a new installment in which was just announced), they also make new Nobunaga’s Ambition installments. As Koei before the merger with Tecmo, they also worked on the Dynasty Tactics and the real-time strategy Kessen series, some developers of which are still there. But most only think of the Warriors games upon seeing the “Koei Tecmo” name, and while it’s not their fault they only see the most advertised games, it helps to carefully consider a company’s entire catalogue before jumping to conclusions. Not that there’s much chance of that happening.
Fortunately for everyone involved, this development plan was a success. Three Houses has received praise from critics and fans alike, many of whom consider it the best FE title in a while, above recent new 3DS installments Fire Emblem Awakening and especially Fire Emblem Fates. Early evidence suggests the game is selling well too, as it’s topped the UK charts for two weeks straight, beating the aforementioned two 3DS titles in sales.
This all begs one key question: What exactly is Intelligent Systems working on? They have more than 17 developers available, so they must be doing something. There’s a chance they’re working on another Paper Mario game, though it would be best if you didn’t expect it to be an RPG considering it’s been 15 years since The Thousand-Year Door. There’s also a chance they could be busy with another Fire Emblem game, either a new title or a remake of Genealogy of the Holy War. I’d like to think they’re diverting resources to another Advance Wars title, another fan-favorite strategy franchise that’s been dead for over eleven years, but it’s tough to be optimistic about that. We should get an answer soon.
Nintendo has worked well with Koei Tecmo for three games now, including Hyrule Warriors. Both companies will likely work together for several games going forward, but this could also give Nintendo enough confidence to establish similar partnerships with other companies going forward.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
