Key developers from Nintendo and Intelligent Systems recently spoke with 4Gamer on their reason for splitting Fire Emblem If into two separate White Kingdom and Black Kingdom versions. Regarding the subject, 4Gamer mentions that it seems as though, depending on which side you choose, you’ll have a different impression of the characters that appear in the game.
“I believe so; however, you’ll be plenty satisfied even just by playing one of the routes, so please play whichever one piques your interest,” replies Nintendo producer Hitoshi Yamagami. “After that, if you get curious about what happens on the other route, give that a try. Once you learn about one route, the other one will become more profound.”
Next, 4Gamer says that when they first heard about the announcement, it seemed like the idea of being able to split the game into two packages came to be due to how easy it has become to add content through DLC.
“Yes, that’s exactly it,” responds Yamagami. “If we were to put the content of both sides into one, we’d have no choice but to set the price as [the value of] two games, and that wouldn’t be fair to players that are just going to play one route.”
4Gamer responds by saying that there are likely a lot of people out there who would be satisfied with just playing one route; however, they were expecting it to be more of an “another route” kind of deal, and didn’t expect each route would have as much content as a single standalone game.
“It is Fire Emblem, after all,” says Yamagami with a laugh. “Each route is properly made, with its own scenes and movies as well.”
If you’re wondering just how much content the routes of Fire Emblem If has, we previously reported that it has about the same amount of content as Fire Emblem: Awakening, which wasn’t a short game, by any means. That said, with the increased cost of development in mind, it makes sense that Intelligent and Nintendo chose to split the game into two versions instead of simply charging a higher price for the entire package as a whole.
Fire Emblem If will release in Japan on June 25, 2015 for Nintendo 3DS. The game will be released sometime in 2016 in the West.
