After seeing what we knew as Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem come back as "Illusory Revelations#FE" at that Nintendo Direct, I was happy to see the game alive again after a few years. The trailer showed brief snippets of gameplay, and it looked like it might be a good mix of the franchises. Some elements of the trailer were a bit too weird and I had reservations about, but I figured I would probably like what I would see at E3.
Then E3 came, and after watching the Treehouse demo...man I'm disappointed.
Here's my main issue with it: I wish Nintendo and Atlus were at least honest that this would be more like Persona x Fire Emblem rather than SMT x Fire Emblem. I personally count the Persona series as one of those "on the fringe" games that's maybe, maybe not part of SMT, but more leaning toward not an SMT game. Even in Japan, the Persona games never used the SMT labelling, and the only reason the US versions used to was just to throw a recognizable brand on them. The only real connection they have to SMT is that the Personas pull from Kaneko's demon designs.
When I watched the demo of the game, they were talking about how characters become pop stars to awaken their "Performa" or something like that. At that point I was just like "Seriously? Ugh!" This idea isn't bad in and of itself, but then the fact that the game seems like it takes the more "High school drama" approach rather than the "apocalypse and occult" approach says a lot about it already.
I don't hate Persona games, I'm just kind of frustrated with Atlus focusing so much more attention on them now rather than real SMT games. Stuff like Strange Journey, SMTIV, I LOVED those games. They were excellent, and I'm sure they will still continue to release games like that, but it definitely feels like they are taking a wayside to Persona, and sadly that problem has crept into SMTxFE too, as it's hardly Shin Megami Tensei at all.
There were some things I liked seeing in the demo, like the way the Fire Emblem characters were implemented was pretty cool, such as Anna running a convenience store. I also liked how the "faces in the crowd" people were just single color silhouettes. It made the game look really cool.
The main thing that disappoints me, and the final game could prove me wrong about this, is that it looks like there will be no "demon invasion", no demon summoning, apocalypse, or anything like that. More of the game will be told through dialogue rather than the environments, which was something the Shin Megami Tensei games always did particularly well. Nocturne did this the best, but I also liked the way Strange Journey and SMTIV did it as well.
All in all, after E3, my interest in this game just kind of faded away when I saw that it looks like it's going to be a Persona-esque high school drama game. Am I alone in this?
Then E3 came, and after watching the Treehouse demo...man I'm disappointed.
Here's my main issue with it: I wish Nintendo and Atlus were at least honest that this would be more like Persona x Fire Emblem rather than SMT x Fire Emblem. I personally count the Persona series as one of those "on the fringe" games that's maybe, maybe not part of SMT, but more leaning toward not an SMT game. Even in Japan, the Persona games never used the SMT labelling, and the only reason the US versions used to was just to throw a recognizable brand on them. The only real connection they have to SMT is that the Personas pull from Kaneko's demon designs.
When I watched the demo of the game, they were talking about how characters become pop stars to awaken their "Performa" or something like that. At that point I was just like "Seriously? Ugh!" This idea isn't bad in and of itself, but then the fact that the game seems like it takes the more "High school drama" approach rather than the "apocalypse and occult" approach says a lot about it already.
I don't hate Persona games, I'm just kind of frustrated with Atlus focusing so much more attention on them now rather than real SMT games. Stuff like Strange Journey, SMTIV, I LOVED those games. They were excellent, and I'm sure they will still continue to release games like that, but it definitely feels like they are taking a wayside to Persona, and sadly that problem has crept into SMTxFE too, as it's hardly Shin Megami Tensei at all.
There were some things I liked seeing in the demo, like the way the Fire Emblem characters were implemented was pretty cool, such as Anna running a convenience store. I also liked how the "faces in the crowd" people were just single color silhouettes. It made the game look really cool.
The main thing that disappoints me, and the final game could prove me wrong about this, is that it looks like there will be no "demon invasion", no demon summoning, apocalypse, or anything like that. More of the game will be told through dialogue rather than the environments, which was something the Shin Megami Tensei games always did particularly well. Nocturne did this the best, but I also liked the way Strange Journey and SMTIV did it as well.
All in all, after E3, my interest in this game just kind of faded away when I saw that it looks like it's going to be a Persona-esque high school drama game. Am I alone in this?
