Gamers everywhere were caught off guard a few years back, when Nintendo announced that a crossover game between the Shin Megami Tensei and Fire Emblem series was in the works. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE released to great reviews, but it turns out Nintendo originally had very different plans. A segment of a Nintendo Dream interview from last year has recently been translated by fans, revealing an interesting new story behind the game’s development—namely, that the initial pitch for a crossover wasn’t with Atlus or Shin Megami Tensei at all. Instead, the Fire Emblem team originally wanted to make a crossover with the Pokémon series.

This effort ultimately fell apart due to The Pokémon Company already having plans to create a crossover with a different series,

Nobunaga’s Ambition, to create Pokémon Conquest. Despite the disappointing turnout, it took less than a week for the FE team to rebound and start considering other companies and series they could work with. They soon settled on Atlus, though it would still be some time before the groups would actually start working together.

Please tell us what led up to the planning of Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Yamagami (Nintendo Producer): 5 years ago, Ms. Andou proposed a plan [for a crossover], saying “You know, I think FE and Pokemon‘s rules are pretty compatible!” Though I agreed with her, by chance the Pokemon group had already proposed what eventually became Pokemon Conquest at the same time [so we were unable to follow through]. Andou (Nintendo Director): Yes, which I was in charge of too. Yamagami (Nintendo Producer): As the plan was a secret, she was put in charge of that first. (Laughs). And then, it took her less than a week to say, “Here’s the next plan.” The new plan was a collaboration with Atlus. At that time, new games like Xenoblade and Pandora’s Tower were coming out, and, because I myself was quite interested in Atlus’s games, I figured “This could work!” At first, we made informal plans within our own small group, but… Takata (Atlus Producer): At that time, the organization itself was undergoing changes. and it was almost impossible to deal with Atlus as a second party, and so we almost decided to give up on it. After roughtly 2 years, we heard from Hiraoka (board member at Atlus), “Let’s try to collaborate and level up by making an RPG together.” After that, we attempted to contact Nintendo repeatedly, asking “Do you want to bring that RPG to life [with us]?” Yamagami (Nintendo Producer): We replied immediately with, “Let’s do it!” We then quickly began to draft plans for the game, still only having a rough idea of what it would be. And so, we released an image that showed, “Shin Megami Tensei Meets Fire Emblem” to the public.

I’d certainly be interested in seeing how

Fire Emblem and the Pokémon series could have their systems and mechanics mixed and matched up to create a whole new crossover experience. Do you think that Nintendo could ever revisit this possibility, especially after the success of Tokyo Mirage Sessions, Pokémon Conquest, and other crossovers like Pokkén Tournament? Or is this idea one that should be left in the past? Give us your thoughts in the comments!

Source: kantopia

Artwork by: FENNEKlNS

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