Tirnanog

[Hazuki]

So we all know of the story about Shouzou Kaga's departure from Intelligent Systems after FE5 in favor of establishing his own company, Tirnanog, leading to both TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga...

But, like...what's up with Tirnanog now? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the aforementioned games were the only ones that actually came out of that company, and the last one, Berwick Saga, is from 2005. Did Tirnanog go under? I was curious earlier today, and finding any information about the current state of the company, let alone Shozou Kaga, isn't exactly easy.

Could anyone provide any insight on this subject or something? What do you guys think is going on?

[Replica Model]

He should come back to IS and make the series like it was before Sword Of Seals.

[Celice]

I was actually wondering this myself. Is there way to tell if the business still has any stocks or sorts of investments in it? I assume if it's still active, there will be some, and if it's dead there won't be.

[Whitefang]

Tirnanóg probably suffered the same fate as those who jumped in expecting eternal youth.

Anyway, I found a game named Tirnanog. I don't read Japanese, so I can't tell you much about it. Further research seems to suggest that it is indeed by a different company. I can't imagine naming a game the same as a company, so this would weakly imply that the company no longer exists.

[dondon151]

Tirnanog is a very commonly used mythological name.

[Anouleth]

I'm aware it doesn't count for much, but I've never seen the word "tirnanog" outside of that company name.

[Celice]

It is relatively common if you're looking where it'd be used. That's the only difference.

[Integrity]

Tilnanogue in FE4 was, I'm 90% positive, supposed to be Tir na Nog.

Anything pseudo-Celtic will have a reference to Tir na Nog at some point. Off the top of my head, the Hib capital city in Dark Age of Camelot (memories~) was Tir na Nog.

Dagda has a song called Tir na nOg.

Yeah, anyway, common thing. That's just what I have right now on my mind.

[Othin]

He should come back to IS and make the series like it was before Sword Of Seals.

History lesson time!

The FE series is, logically, divided into four groups of games. The first group is FE1-5, made by the collaboration of Kaga and IS. In this group, there was no specific face to the series. It grew organically, with each new game bringing many new aspects to the series, while holding onto some but not all aspects of previous games. The result was a series where each game was a unique experience, while still progressing from one game to the next. The BSFE downloads are in a sense exceptions, as they mirrored the gameplay of FE3, but they were really an add-on to FE3 rather than separate games(s) anyway.

The next group is FE6-10, new games made by IS after Kaga left. The gameplay for these games is, for all practical intents and purposes, a stripped-down version of FE5's gameplay. New features were scarce for each release; the closest thing was typically recycled features from FE2 or FE4. The result was a mechanical, formulaic group of games, rather than the organic progression of the earlier games. FE13 may or may not turn out to fit into this category; we'll have to see.

The third group is FE11-12, remakes of early games made by IS without Kaga. They essentially follow their own formula, with a few new aspects, and a few changes, although the ability of those changes to make the remakes feel like a new experience is debatable.

The fourth group is TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga, made by Kaga himself after he left IS. These games continued the organic progression that had been present in the first group - while the dramatic changes to each new game seem odd from our current perspective, when they're placed next to only Kaga's other works, they don't seem strange at all, just the things that make each new game a unique experience. Some changes were good, others not so good. I don't know how good TearRing Saga is overall (from what I've heard, half the cast has one game-breaking ability or another, making the difficulty a joke, for one thing), but speaking personally, Berwick Saga is my favorite game in the series.

So, myself, I don't want Kaga to necessarily make games "like" one game or another in particular - that's never been his style anyway; there's no real pattern to his past games for him to follow in a new one other than being a unique experience. I just want him to make another game, using whatever new and returning features he feels is best, with or without IS.

I don't know how much you know about the above already, but I'm sure there are many people here who don't, and it helps to explain my personal view on the matter better. It's also something I've been wanting to post here for a while for that reason... I just hope I haven't already posted it and forgotten about it.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Othin

[Hazuki]

I stumbled upon something just now.

http://games.ign.com...752/752071.html

IGN apparently has a page for Tirnanog, listing its official site, which was: http://www.tirnanog.co.jp/

Reason I say was is because it doesn't seem to exist anymore. This is a pretty good indicator that Tirnanog may have kicked the bucket. If this is true, then where's Kaga?

[Celice]

He should leak more information :3

if only there was any to leak...

[Replica Model]

History lesson time!

The FE series is, logically, divided into four groups of games. The first group is FE1-5, made by the collaboration of Kaga and IS. In this group, there was no specific face to the series. It grew organically, with each new game bringing many new aspects to the series, while holding onto some but not all aspects of previous games. The result was a series where each game was a unique experience, while still progressing from one game to the next. The BSFE downloads are in a sense exceptions, as they mirrored the gameplay of FE3, but they were really an add-on to FE3 rather than separate games(s) anyway.

The next group is FE6-10, new games made by IS after Kaga left. The gameplay for these games is, for all practical intents and purposes, a stripped-down version of FE5's gameplay. New features were scarce for each release; the closest thing was typically recycled features from FE2 or FE4. The result was a mechanical, formulaic group of games, rather than the organic progression of the earlier games. FE13 may or may not turn out to fit into this category; we'll have to see.

The third group is FE11-12, remakes of early games made by IS without Kaga. They essentially follow their own formula, with a few new aspects, and a few changes, although the ability of those changes to make the remakes feel like a new experience is debatable.

The fourth group is TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga, made by Kaga himself after he left IS. These games continued the organic progression that had been present in the first group - while the dramatic changes to each new game seem odd from our current perspective, when they're placed next to only Kaga's other works, they don't seem strange at all, just the things that make each new game a unique experience. Some changes were good, others not so good. I don't know how good TearRing Saga is overall (from what I've heard, half the cast has one game-breaking ability or another, making the difficulty a joke, for one thing), but speaking personally, Berwick Saga is my favorite game in the series.

So, myself, I don't want Kaga to necessarily make games "like" one game or another in particular - that's never been his style anyway; there's no real pattern to his past games for him to follow in a new one other than being a unique experience. I just want him to make another game, using whatever new and returning features he feels is best, with or without IS.

I don't know how much you know about the above already, but I'm sure there are many people here who don't, and it helps to explain my personal view on the matter better. It's also something I've been wanting to post here for a while for that reason... I just hope I haven't already posted it and forgotten about it.

Yeah I know he left after Thracia was released and went to create his own company and made Tearring Saga and Berwick Saga, and I was just saying he should come back to IS and help continue Fire Emblem before the game dies. Thats all I gotta say.

[Original Alear]

Maybe there is bad blood between him and Nintendo, or maybe he's old and wants to retire. I want the guy to keep making games, but if he isn't already then what's the hope of him going back to it?

[Aethereal]

Maybe there is bad blood between him and Nintendo, or maybe he's old and wants to retire. I want the guy to keep making games, but if he isn't already then what's the hope of him going back to it?

Well, a lot of times people burn out on doing something they love too much, and having it overshadow other more important aspects of their lives. After some time away, it's not impossible to come back to that same thing, with a better perspective on how to manage their time, or their investment.

I have absolutely 0 way of knowing if this is what happened to Kaga and creating games, but there is some hope, right?

[VincentASM]

That's interesting that Tirnanog appears to have their own site, although I checked the Wayback Machine and that site never had any information except its URL.

BTW, I'm still curious if Kaga even worked on Berwick Saga. I remember early details (before the game came out) claiming that he was working on it, but I don't think his name's in the credits (maybe it was removed so Nintendo wouldn't sue?).

If you believe in "Kaga's" blog, it seems Kaga worked on some concepts for sequels/spin offs to TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga, but they probably didn't take off. I've also heard some unconfirmed rumblings from ChinaFE that Kaga swore off making any more games.

[Momo]

So is there any explanation for why he left IS just to make a game that was exactly like Fire Emblem?

[VincentASM]

I think that's kind of a touchy topic and I'm not sure if he or anybody else would have mentioned it : P

I can only assume he wanted increased creative freedom, maybe he felt his current position was a bit limited, or maybe the Nintendo hardware? I get the impression, from what I read on IS's old blog, that Kaga was interested in developing for the Playstation as early as Thracia 776's announcement.

[CrashGordon94]

So is there any explanation for why he left IS just to make a game that was exactly like Fire Emblem?

I don't know for sure, but IIRC he didn't like where the series was going and decided to do his own take on it, I'm sure someone could answer that.

[VincentASM]

I'd edit my post, but my addition may be relevant to CrashGordon's idea as well.

Don't forget, TRS was originally called Emblem Saga and it was slated to be the successor of the Fire Emblem series. Heck, Kaga even mentions in an interview that it (Emblem Saga) takes place in the same universe and timeline. So that's why the game is similar to FE.

[Non-Existent Member]

Don't forget, TRS was originally called Emblem Saga and it was slated to be the successor of the Fire Emblem series. Heck, Kaga even mentions in an interview that it (Emblem Saga) takes place in the same universe and timeline. So that's why the game is similar to FE.

Now that you've mentioned it, I believe Chainey/Xane was gonna appear in Emblem Saga, According to the interview: "Kaga: A certain shape-shifting youth will have an important role, in the guise of a mysterious bard and sage. Since this game occurs in the same time period as the first game, Dark Dragon and Sword of Light, more characters may return if the need arises." I'm not 100% sure about this.