What Would Fire Emblem Benefit from being on Wii U?

[Zukonima]

When I say benefit, I mean benefit in quality, not in popularity or sales. The 3DS crushes Wii U in that aspect.

Now the Wii U could offer distinct advantages over the 3DS. The Hardware could allow for much more graphical fidelity as well as better animations when units fight (they may even get feet!) But Fire Emblem's style didn't really look the prettiest on Gamecube or Wii. I'm not sure whether the gamecube art style or even the 3DS style would fit on the Wii U. The Gamepad could also keep all the advantages the 3DS has other than the 3D, allowing for touch input. Other than the graphics and controls, I really can't think of any other benefits or major advantages the platform has. So what else would Fire Emblem benefit from on the Wii U? Or would the Wii U benefit from Fire Emblem?

[sirmola]

In this interview, the developers said that the lack of feet was because they underestimated the 3DS's graphical capabilities, and now that they know better, they will probably include better models next time:

http://fireemblem.nintendo.com/developer-interview/page3.html

(check near the bottom of the page)

The non-graphical aspects of this question have been discussed extensively elsewhere on these forums. Suffice it to say that the general consensus was that even with its new-found popularity, fire emblem would not be popular enough to help the Wii-U significantly.

[Knight]

It'd look fancy, with cool characters and maps. I remember X-COM took advantage of 3D leveling and destructible terrain, but I don't know if those things would work in FE, so really nothing but HD graphics.

[Nobody]

It would help fire emblem to get cancelled.

because it would sell like absolute shit.

But seriously, I don't think it would help FE in any way. From my experience, Fire emblem is the kind of game that doesn't get anything from having good graphics or being on a more powerful hardware but is actually benefited from portability. While the Wii U allows a certain degree of portability, it's nothing compared to the 3ds. They should just stick with the 3ds.

The Wii U wouldn't benefit from fire emblem either, since it's a niche series that wouldn't help selling hardware.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Nobody

[ViewtifulBo]

Makes me sad because I want one on the Wii U sooooooooooo badly but.... Wii U sales are.... crap. And only die hard fans I think would even buy it if it ever came out for Wii U. Look at Radiant Dawn, it got released early in the Wii's life cycle and the sales were absolute garbage unfortunetly. If I'm not mistaken (I probably am) I think Shadow Dragon out sold Radiant Dawn and that was on the DS. So in a way, like the main series of Pokemon, I feel like its gonna stay on handheld.

[Soledge]

Since the use of the tablet is MANDATORY! I think that when you checked a characters stats it would appear on the tablet.

So how would it benefit (other then giving us neck cramps) the gameplay....not really.

On a more optimistic note, it could provide a real fire emblem multiplayer, with maps and terrain.

[bookofholsety]

it wouldn't really benefit much from the wii u hardware gimmicks... which is also exactly what can be said about fe10 and the whole wii remote thing, and about fe13 and the 3ds's fuckton of bells and whistles (touchscreen aside). that is to say, they made no attempt to hamfistedly integrate MOTION CONTROL or SUPER GYROSCOPES into the gameplay, and the games are far better off for it. i'd imagine the same approach would be ideal for a hypothetical wii u fe game

i honestly wouldn't expect anything more elaborate gamepad-wise than putting status screens and menus down there, though who knows? i can't see much potential in applying it to fire emblem gameplay, but that doesn't mean intsys will fail to come up with an ingenious use for it (although i'm hardly banking on it, given their recent track record and/or nintendo's state in general)

obviously the present state of wii u sales and the niche status of fe in general, even in a post-fe13 world, would pretty much doom the game to flopping at this point, but at least they know that and aren't rushing into developing it while the wii u is still pretty much a gun pointed at their head?

[OrangeCrush980]

IS doesn't have the time, money, or motivation to make a good-looking HD game. The 3DS can handle everything that IS wants to do with the series, so there's no point in a Wii U release.

[VincentASM]

Well, I think IS is definitely getting better with their 3D graphics. Sure, FE9 and FE10 weren't amazing, but the jump in graphics from 9 and 10 is quite remarkable; Awakening's graphics are also pretty spiffy. So I'd definitely be interested to see what IS can show off with their hypothetical Wii U FE.

Otherwise, I can't really think of many benefits off the top of my head. Maybe maps divided into two areas, like indoors and outdoors and you can use the tablet to check the other map? That sounds exciting ^^

As things stand, there isn't much incentive to make a Wii U FE, but IS could potentially get the thumbs up from Nintendo given Awakening's great sales and also to bolster the Wii U's catalogue and appease owners/potential owners.

[cryogeist]

Hardware wise? Everything considering the Wii-U is just better then the 3DS

Other then that? I got nothing new to add that hasn't been said in this thread already

[Jave]

I don't care if Wii U is selling like crap. I want to see a high-budget Fire Emblem title (whether new or remake) in glorious HD graphics that's as long, if not longer, than Radiant Dawn.

MAKE IT HAPPEN.

[Anacybele]

What Jave said.

And as for how FE can benefit on the Wii U, it's mainly graphics, controls, and capacity. FE is often a big game with a lot of content. Awakening suffered in story and support quality because the 3DS's capacity couldn't hold both a longer, less rushed and BS-infested story and the bonus content (paralogue chapters, DLC chapters, etc.) at the same time. PoR and RD, on the other hand, had much better stories and better quality writing. PoR is also often said to have the best support system (why RD didn't reuse it is beyond me). And these are our GC and Wii FE titles. They also have longer main stories and Awakening had to take away many of the glorious gameplay features that RD had, like light magic, ledges, unique chapter objectives, etc.

The Wii U is a much more powerful system and can hold a lot more data.

Awakening's gameplay overall is good, but I think if we combine that with the RD features it lacks and a PoR-grade story and support system, then slap it on the Wii U, we'd have ourselves another hot seller in the series.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Anacybele

[BANRYU]

Ruling out the WiiU's poor sales and such factors, I think that could be great if it was implemented well. Touch-screen controls for map movement and whatnot have the potential to be really efficient and intuitive, I think. Yeah, there are plenty of uses for the WiiU's gamepad that Fire Emblem could make good use of.

I really like WiiU and the gamepad in general, but I haven't seen a ton of really good or creative uses for it outside of Nintendoland (although Pikmin 3 and Wonderful 101 seem like they make good use of it, I just haven't played much of those).

[Jedi]

Dkc boosted the Wii U sales a fair bit but FexSmt is already going to be on the system I honestly don't see a mainliner making it onto it.

[Knight]

I really like the gamepad as well, but I'd just be happy if FE7 on the VC was my Wii U Fire Emblem experience and not risk an FE with an overblown budget and it not selling well. If the Wii U starts to sell really well, then perhaps.

[Jedi]

Even big sales of a Nintendo console didn't help Radiant Dawn sell well, as good as it was. Fire Emblem just isn't console player bait

[BANRYU]

To be fair, I think RD had really bad publicity. :0 I didn't get Path of Radiance but I knew loads about it anyway, whereas RD was almost the complete opposite-- I barely knew it existed for the longest time even though I owned it. I hadn't heard jack about any of the characters or that it was even released. o___o (....That could just as easily be my lack of exposure though I suppose...)

...I dunno, DIDN'T it have pretty bad publicity....?

[Anacybele]

I think RD didn't sell well because PoR didn't and I think PoR didn't because it was released at the end of the GC's lifespan. The same reason Thracia didn't sell well (it came out after the SNES's life ended). And if not many people played PoR, I doubt many will be inclined to buy RD. Bad publicity is probably also a factor, as before Awakening, FE never got advertised a whole lot. I always thought this was a reason it wasn't very popular, and Awakening proved me right. It was advertised to death, lots of people bought it, and FE got a popularity boost.

Despite RD's bad sales, however, it made the top 20 Wii games list in some gaming magazines, at a pretty decent #13.

But honestly, the sales of neither game do them justice. The Tellius saga is way better than they indicate. I've seen plenty of good reviews for them.

[Jedi]

Por didn't have commercials. RD did. From what I recall

Also in PoR's case was partly due to the GC selling poorly. Even though it has one of the best game libraries

[General Banzai]

Not much

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

Even big sales of a Nintendo console didn't help Radiant Dawn sell well, as good as it was. Fire Emblem just isn't console player bait

To be fair, I think RD had really bad publicity. :0 I didn't get Path of Radiance but I knew loads about it anyway, whereas RD was almost the complete opposite-- I barely knew it existed for the longest time even though I owned it. I hadn't heard jack about any of the characters or that it was even released. o___o (....That could just as easily be my lack of exposure though I suppose...)

I think RD didn't sell well because PoR didn't and I think PoR didn't because it was released at the end of the GC's lifespan. The same reason Thracia didn't sell well (it came out after the SNES's life ended). And if not many people played PoR, I doubt many will be inclined to buy RD. Bad publicity is probably also a factor, as before Awakening, FE never got advertised a whole lot. I always thought this was a reason it wasn't very popular, and Awakening proved me right. It was advertised to death, lots of people bought it, and FE got a popularity boost.

Despite RD's bad sales, however, it made the top 20 Wii games list in some gaming magazines, at a pretty decent #13.

But honestly, the sales of neither game do them justice. The Tellius saga is way better than they indicate. I've seen plenty of good reviews for them.

...I dunno, DIDN'T it have pretty bad publicity....?

I think the Tellius series was more popular, after SSBB hade come out. Many people (like me) did not know even the existance of FE9 + 10 and were introduced to these games through Ike´s appearance in SSBB. But at this point (end of 2008 in EU) the Tellius games were sold hardly any because of the bad sales before SSBB was released.

[BANRYU]

Also in PoR's case was partly due to the GC selling poorly. Even though it has one of the best game libraries

Ugh I know this was such an absolute crime.

I was waging the console wars in high school at the time and my gamer buds + the majority was all like 'xbox this, xbox that', leaving me Nintendo's sole champion it seemed

F#$%in'

Gamecube had a way better library than both OG Xbox and Wii, most underrated console in two decades

Xbox didn't start being cool until the 360 IMO when they just started having way better policies than Nintendo

...but I digress

Yeah, I hope we get some kind of FE on the WiiU. A dude I was talking to was saying a GotHW would be neat on the gamepad; since the maps are so huge you could look at the full map on the TV and command units with a closer-up view on the gamepad.

Edited April 21, 2014 by BANRYU

[Hamicsat]

I feel like a more powerful console would allow the developers to code more complex AI, which I felt was a bit of a problem in Awakening. Admittedly, FE5 had the best AI in the series (debatably), and that was on a Super Nintendo, so I might be overestimating the importance of console power, but I still feel that the Wii U's processing power would be helpful.

The gamepad could have plenty of uses, but the thing that comes to mind for me is menuing. I feel like it would be a lot easier to manage equipment on a separate screen, while doing something else on the television monitor.

[Dims]

Everything people already said. Better graphics (feetlol), maybe better controls and probably better interface with the gamepad.

It would be bad for sales though. Also I don't own a Wii U and I would cry for months if the next game was announced on something else than the 3DS (which IMO is an awesome platform for the series with a lot of potential).

EDIT: I was disregarding sales in my comment as if Wii U were a realistic possibility.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Dims

[HF Makalov Fanboy Kai]

it would help in making me cry, cause not only would it be for a system i plan on never getting, it would be the final game that would sell horribly and kill the series.

worst part is the the gameplay could be pretty good too, but i just can't buy a wiiU for several reasons, or any of this gen's consoles.