TheFire Emblemseries has steadily grown to be one of Nintendo’s most popular, and the release ofFire Emblem Engageearlier this year shows the franchise is not slowing down anytime soon. While the Switch has received two mainline entries and a handful of spin-offs, one feature common to the 3DS era has been missing. Entries likeFire Emblem EngageandFire Emblem: Three Houseshave iconic looks for their protagonists, but the next entry in the series should include the ability to completely customize the player’s avatar like some of the 3DS titles.
Part of the popularity of theFire Emblemfranchise is its large cast of characters, as fans are able to pick out their favorites from pre-established design like Marth, Ike, or most recently,Alear. While these consistent designs help give protagonists a specific identity, they remove the ability for players to connect with their avatar through personal choice. Although the past few titles have given players the option to choose between a male and female variant for the protagonist, players have still been locked out of further customization options.
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The Next Fire Emblem Game Could Take Character Customization to the Next Level
TheFire Emblemseries dabbled with customizable avatars inFire Emblem: The Blazing BladeandFire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem,yet the former does not feature its avatar as a deployable unit and the latter was never released outside of Japan. The first in-depth avatar customization that most players would be familiar with came in the3DS’Fire Emblem: Awakening,where players could customize their avatar’s gender, body, face, hair, voice, and stat growths. This was also the first time an avatar character was featured prominently in the game’s plot rather than being a deuteragonist to the main character.
The next 3DS entry,Fire Emblem Fates, upped its customization with even more hair and face options for players to choose from. Following the remakeFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, which didn’t feature customization, future entries likeFire Emblem: Three Houses,Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, andFire Emblem Engagewould scale back by only allowing players to choose their gender (and clothing inEngage). While these games took the series to new heights, their limited character customization options after those of the 3DS titles felt underwhelming.
With themore powerful hardware of the Switch, it would seem likeFire Emblemgames should have the ability to go beyond the customizations options of the 3DS. The next entry in the series could takethe idea even further by eliminating pre-made choices for things like body, face, and hair in favor of sliders that allow players to tweak every aspect of their avatar - much like how character creation in many modern RPGs such asElden RingandCyberpunk 2077work. This game could even expand on custom options that affect gameplay, such as starting class and initial stat investments.
Although some of these features would be a new frontier for theFire Emblemseries, improved hardware of the Switch and its potential successor could warrant a shift in this direction. AsfutureFire Emblemtitleslook to iterate upon past mechanics, it should bring back in-depth avatar customization in a big way. While the series seems to be trying to balance core gameplay alongside optional content, revamping avatar creation options seems like the next logical step for enhancing immersion.
Fire Emblem Engageis available now for Nintendo Switch.
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