Hey all, coming back with a somewhat controversial discussion, I'd like to discuss the design decisions behind Fire Emblem: Warriors. With the heat regarding the details of Fire Emblem: Warriors, I'm hoping to tackle this topic with a mature discussion.

First, I'd like to say that despite the understanding division this design choice has sparked, it's disappointing that conversation regarding this topic degrades into 'elitists vs. waifu fanboys/girls'. That is to say, it becomes a topic of the 'original' Fire Emblem fans vs. the new generation of Fire Emblem fans. There has been escalating tension between the opposing groups, however I feel like situations like this is where the community should come together to attest to the poor design decisions made by Koei Tecmo.

So as to address any preconceived biases I withhold, I'm a Fire Emblem 'veteran' who's been a huge advocate and fan for a 'Fire Emblem Warriors' game since seeing the initial fanart many of us veterans would've idealised. I wasn't a fan of the series direction where there was a demographic shift and concepts such as the Avatar and the marriage system became a focal point for the series. Despite this, I think Intelligence Systems has been taking gradual steps to unite the fanbase and honestly, with the release of Echoes of Valentia, I feel tension between the two camps is completely unnecessary as both camps will continue to be supported by Intelligence Systems. It is fruitless to argue amongst ourselves as Awakening/Fates shout 'Awakening saved the franchise', as if that's justification to sprout pretend superiority and exempts the era from criticism and similarly, the elistists shouting 'They're terrible games only about waifus!', as if Awakening didn't address game design flaws inherent in the series predecessors.

With all that said out of the way, there are some things I'd like to address as I get back on topic:

• If the game succeeds, it is extremely likely characters such as Lyn, Ike and Roy will be released as DLC.
• There are some things as fans of the series we need to accept. Awakening and Fates attracting the most attention, Jugdral will always get shafted, even in comparison to other continents such as Tellius and Elibe. This will likely continue until a Jugdral Echoes reboot. Despite Fire Emblem 4 being next in line, it's likely our next remake will be 6.
• Awakening and Fates are most profitable games of the series. We, as fans, should both expect and understand design preferences towards these games.

Whew, with all that said and done... I'd like to get back to the topic on hand. Since the initial announcement of their self-imposed limitation to the games roster, the community exploded with outrage and arguements between fans escalated in almost every Warriors thread. Despite the backlash, I feel as if the reasons behind fans outcry became quickly overshadowed and ignored as conversations degraded into fanbase arguements. Ignoring the extremely ignorant reasoning explained by the developers (which was borderline insulting at how stupid they think we are), the reality is this decision was made as they perceive Awakening/Fates and a touch of Shadow Dragon (likely limited to Marth, the series representative and Tiki, the series mascot, but may also include some unlikely candidates such as Caeda and Camus) as the most profitable decision.

As a business, profits are and always will be the most decisive factor to design choices such as these. To replicate the older generation of characters such as Lyn, Roy, Ike and Hector, a lot of time and resources will be required. This leads us to the question, does the design choice being most profitable make the decision all right? Ultimately, this is subjective... but I'm going to say no. Crossover games such as Fire Emblem: Warriors, Fire Emblem: Heroes, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, a potential future Fire Emblem fighting game or a future Fire Emblem spin-off series, ultimately these games are meant to be a celebration for fans. A celebration to the series. These games are meant for us and this is why I feel like it's extremely important to voice our concerns regarding this matter.In all honesty, if the situation was reversed, I'd still be upset. A Fire Emblem crossover, regardless of genre, without representation from Awakening would be just as asinine. Awakening deserves to be in the game, just like Blazing Shadow, Path of Radiance and other successful Fire Emblem games do. It shouldn't be a case of Awakening vs. Blazing Shadow, as characters from both games should be in a game like this that's meant to celebrate the series.

We see a similar trend with the latest mobile game, Fire Emblem: Heroes. The characters chosen for the base roster of the game were heavily favoured towards Awakening/Fates, although most of the other series were still represented with their most notable or popular characters. You still see this trend with seasonal characters almost exclusively being from Awakening/Fates. Despite this, I think Fire Emblem: Heroes is a game 'made for the fans' done right.

People had began arguing about the 'sword issue' or character redundancy, however this was never the real issue. Similarly, I've seen many people justify this decision by stating Hyrules Warrioras as a precedent, despite Fire Emblem being a heavily character-driven series (of which Zelda has virtually no character presence outside of the Tri-Force Heroes). The problem is however, even if this comparison was right, it's ignoring the underlying issues here. Rather than being a game for Fire Emblem fans, Fire Emblem: Warriors (and partially Tokyo Mirage Session) immediately fail as they ignore not only a large section of the Fire Emblem audience, but also the series rich history. Not only does Fire Emblem: Warriors attempt to segregate the community further, but will likely indulge in honestly criminal DLC where characters some fans may acutally want be locked behind a paywall.

Ultimately, this business decision is something that should not be defended.