Every now and then, the gaming world gets a truly remarkable remake/remaster. Final Fantasy VII (tentatively), The N’Sane Trilogy, Spyro? They’re loved by all and lets the series be available to a wide variety of new fans. Video game franchises that have a long history and originate from Japan usually have a few games that have never made it to the west, and Fire Emblem is one of those series. When Fire Emblem first released outside of Japan, there were already six previous games in the franchise. Luckily, thanks to remasters, we have gotten 2 of the Japan-exclusive games, but there are still four more that western audiences and fans have never gotten to play (outside the emulation community for Fire Emblem, which is thriving…which for legal reasons we can’t encourage *ahem*). Other than the 3DS Fire Emblem games, the other entries in the franchise are notoriously rare to get a hold of and even if you do, they are extremely expensive. So a remaster of these games could never be more perfect; with the series having a fruitful relationship on handheld and consoles, as well as the popularity of the franchise, It wouldn’t be surprising if we got a new remaster in the next two or three years. The Switch is perfect for Fire Emblem’s type of gameplay, the only question is, which game will get the treatment?
There are basically two things to consider, will Intelligent Systems remake an older game from the franchise that never came to the west, or one that did but could benefit from a graphical upgrade? But within those initial choice of old school vs a bit newer school, I think there are three potential games that could make sense for a remaster. Genealogy of the Holy War, Binding Blade, and The Tellius series.
Genealogy of the Holy War makes the most sense for a remaster. A lot of the mechanics that were introduced in that game are making a comeback in Three Houses; like the holy blood/crests, dismounting, and time skip feature. If you ask any hardcore Fire Emblem fan who has played every game in the series, you will very often hear that their favorite is Genealogy. Since the first three games in the series have already gotten the remaster treatment (Mystery of the Emblem remaster STILL only got released in Japan for some reason), Genealogy is the next game due for an update. This fan favorite game has also made headlines recently due to it finally being fully translated by a group of friends, so it’s definitely been on people’s minds. The game came out back on the Super Famicom, so even if you want to play the physical version, it’s pretty hard to come by. It makes the most sense that this game will be next in line, and it would make a lot of longtime fans happy.
Ah, Binding Blade, I’ll never forget the day I found out this game existed since I have such a love for the Gameboy Fire Emblem titles. This actually might hinder the possibility of this remaster, however. Longtime fans of the series have a great love for the style the Gameboy titles were made in. The pixel art of those are timeless and a lot of modders create their own Fire Emblem games in this style. The reason Binding Blade should get a remaster is that the first Fire Emblem released in North America, Blazing Sword, is actually a prequel to this game, so it would be a great chance for western audiences to get to see how the story of Eliwood and his world concludes. Roy is one of the more popular Fire Emblem characters since his inclusion in Smash Bros. He was a lot of people’s introduction to the series and having a recognizable face could really help this remaster. Maybe if we do ever see more of this game, Intelligent Systems can actually fix Roy so he has good stats…
The Tellius series is the real oddball of the franchise. Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are either people’s favorites or their least liked. They are also the absolute hardest games to find in the franchise and even some of the rarest on their respective consoles (both costing over $100). A Tellius series remaster should happen because they’re both fantastic games that weren’t played enough during their original run. The Gamecube as a system already had pretty low sales, mixed in with the fact that Fire Emblem was still a pretty niche franchise back then, it’s no surprise that Path of Radiance didn’t sell incredibly well, and even less surprising that it’s sequel sold even worse. But the Tellius series deserves better.
Although Path of Radiance was a pretty typical story in the franchise, Radiant Dawn’s dealt with a lot of real-world problems like racism and discrimination, unlike other games in the series which was always just “nation of good guys against country of bad guys”. Its poor sales might mean that Intelligent Systems thinks it’s not worth bringing back, but anything is possible with Fire Emblem’s growing popularity! Plus there are always new fans saying that they want to get their hands on these games but can’t because they are so hard to find and would require you to sell an organ to pay for. Ike is a pretty popular character though, so maybe that could help? Or maybe not, I think the competitive Smash Bros. scene hates how OP he is…
A new Fire Emblem remaster almost seems inevitable, and these games have a really good chance of being rereleased on the Switch with beautiful graphics. What game from the series do you want to get the HD treatment? We are just a month away from Fire Emblem Three Houses, so stay tuned for much more Fire Emblem content here, ladies and gentlemen.
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