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Nintendo/Atlus on pairing for SMT X Fire Emblem, dev process, character designs and more
Coming from a GameSpot interview with Fire Emblem producer and Nintendo group manager Hitoshi Yamagami and Atlus producer Shinjiro Takada...
"In our team at Nintendo Co., Ltd, there's a woman who really loves the Shin Megami Tensei series. This is how this all started. And when she started this conversation within the company, we were working with Atlus at the time on a purikura [decorative photography] program for DSi and 3DS. At the time she said, 'Mr. Yamagami, there's something I would like to do. I want to make a game that mixes Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei.' And we said, that's exciting, let's give it a shot! But when we brought it to Atlus, they said, we'd like to but we can't, we're busy." - Yamagami
"When they asked if I wanted to [work with Nintendo], I was heading the Devil Survivor series. So once that series finished, two years after that conversation, I said, let's give this a shot." - Takada
"From Nintendo's point of view, because it's Fire Emblem, we thought, let's make this a turn-based strategy game. In the beginning, even Atlus wanted to make it a turn-based strategy, but after finishing the concept for it, I said, no, don't do this, if you do something like this, it's something [Fire Emblem developer] Intelligent Systems could just make with the main series. Do something we can't do. That's when we decided to make it a JRPG set in modern Japan." - Yamagami
"If you're going to be very strict about it, it is a Shin Megami Tensei game, but it's only similar to it, it's not exactly like Shin Megami Tensei," Takada explained. "But we put Fire Emblem elements into that kind of framework." - Takada
"One of the reasons [we made Fire Emblem characters Mirages] is because since it's an RPG in modern times, we can't have a Pegasus Knight suddenly show up and have the player think that it all makes sense. Because Fire Emblem has its own world, we had to have these characters enter the modern world as visitors from a mirror dimension, called the Idolosphere. And as there are ally units like Chrom and Shiida who come from this world, there are also antagonists that come from that world as well and want to destroy our world." - Yamagami
"This is why the characters are all entertainers: in Japan, similar to Greek mythology, there's the idea of the gods being connected to the arts. It's a shamanistic element that's been interpreted by Atlus. The idea is, Japanese priestesses would dance and the dancing would bring them closer to the gods. We wanted to spin this in an Atlus way, so all the characters in the game have some connection to the arts, and that connection and their ability to express themselves attracts the Mirages to them. People who are good at singing or dancing or acting have really strong bonds with Mirages." - Takada
"What I'm most proud about this game is the fact that despite everything that we've said about it, as you play through the story, you'll realize that, what happens happens for a reason, because this game is inspired by Fire Emblem," he said. "So as a Fire Emblem fan, you'll recognize why things are happening; it's happening because it's Fire Emblem." - Yamagami