How I would make a Fire Emblem Warriors sequel :




Just give one look at Fire Emblem Warriors, and two words come to mind : « Wasted opportunities ». Now, I am not saying that this game is terrible in terms of gameplay. In fact, I do enjoy some of the more strategic twists that this game puts at your disposal. The movement is solid, and some movesets are fairly creative. However, there is always this feeling that more could have been done for a definitive Fire Emblem crossover game. The cast is very skewed towards Fates and Awakening, with a minor nod to Shadow Dragon. The game relies on the weapon triangle, but most characters come equipped with sword, while axes are extremely rare, making axes the worst weapon type in the game balance-wise, while lances have an a matchup advantage against most units. All bow users play the exact same. There are simply too many issues to name, and here is how I would love to see them fixed in a sequel.

What this game could have been

The first issue to tackle is the cast. I do not want to disparage anyone who grew up with Fates and Awakening. Those people have every right to enjoy those games. However, a fair amount of them try to justify the heavy bias toward those two games by citing that they are a financial success, and thus deserve the heavy representation. However, I think that it is a very short-sighted viewpoint, and it can come accross as fairly selfish to long time fans of the franchise. While I am not very fond of those two games, I would agree with the contention that they should be represented, as they do make up a bulk of the fanbase. However, when it comes to crossovers, there is such a thing as oversaturation.



Take Super Smash Bros as an example. Mario appeals to fans of his games. By simply having him in the game, it is enough of a draw for most of the series fanbase. If you add Luigi, it makes fans of that franchise happier, and may draw in more fans from that franchise, but the second representative from that franchise will have less of an impact, simply because fans of both characters tend to overlap. Luigi has some additional draw now due to Luigi’s Mansion being fairly different, but the point still stands. Now add Bowser, Peach, etc… and with each character, the impact in terms of attracting the interest of new players lessens. It is a case of diminishing returns.



Now, let’s say you add Fox Mcloud. Star Fox is nowhere near as large a fanbase as the Mario series, but what Star Fox would have is an untapped market. Star Fox fans can be fans of the Mario franchise, but there is less overlap than just adding another Mario character. Simply adding one character from a given series will be enough to draw interest from that series fanbase. Maybe Fox isn’t their favourite from that franchise, but they are thankful that the series is represented at all. It is far more advantageous to spread out your net and appeal to many fandoms, and to not oversaturate a specific franchise.



When it comes to Fire Emblem, they work kind of like Final Fantasy in that the games tend to take place in different settings, worlds, and play quite differently. It is not a stretch to assume that simply because someone is a fan of a specific Fire Emblem game, they may not necessarily be as partial to another. I love Path of Radiance, but wouldn’t say that I have much love for Fates. There can be any variation of tastes, which leads to a very varied and passionate community. As such, I beleive that when you reached 14 characters just for Fates, you’ve not only reached oversaturation point… you went far past it. Personally, i would perhaps not remove characters, but I would at the very least focus additions on a more varried group of franchises. Perhaps 4 or 5 per game, but cover a wide array of games. DLC would then be used to add representation to games that have not been represented yet, or to add to under-represented games. By doing so, the game would make more people happy than it would otherwise. We also must consider the wider appeal of characters like Ike and Roy, who appeal to the Super Smash Bros. community as well.



When it comes to the weapon triangle, I would completely remove it and use a progression system similar to Three Houses. Now, it is not necessarily my favourite progression system, but it would fit fairly well with a Warriors game. Each characters could equip almost every weapon, and some more universal movesets would be made to allow characters to use other weapons. As such, your sword users could still use other weapons and mounts and the customization would allow you to use a team of your favourite units, but also keep it balanced. Maybe Lyn can use a bow, Ike gets an axe, Chrom gets a lance, and you keep Roy as a sword user. Most of the important characters in Fire Emblem tend to use swords, and there is no going around that. However, there can at the very least be a means to allow variety.



Each character would of course have unique animations for their signature weapons, but perhaps they could also unlock a few different fighting styles through specific classes. Ike could unlock an axe moveset, or maybe Ephraim could have both a mounted lance and unmounted lance moveset.



By using a weapon type, skills could be unlocked, leading to the eventual breaker skills being unlocked, which would allow a character to become strong against a specific weapon type. In other words, no matter which weapon is used, you could perhaps have an all swords team, but some are strong against sword, lances, bows, magic, etc… instead of axes. Using a variety of weapon types would be encouraged, as you would have to build weapon rank to learn new skills. Doing so mitigates the issue of an oversaturated weapon type, while allowing for iconic characters being included. Certain legendary weapons from all over the series like the Basiliskos could be added into the game and be equippable by all characters, making it so that there is some variety in what characters can use.



This may seem very challenging to do, but Omega Force has allowed characters to use multiple weapon types before with Dynasty Warriors. In fact, I’ve heavily inspired my ideas from playing other Warriors games. Omega Force has the ability to make a better Fire Emblem Warriors successor if they change a few things. I was not a fan of most of their decisions, and frankly, I am still quite unhappy with how classic games were tossed aside, but a sequel could remedy that and make things right. I am not saying that these changes would be easy to implement, but they would lead in a fa rmore balanced game.