Fire Emblem: Awakening team didn’t agree on adding Casual mode at first

One of the main tropes in the Fire Emblem series has always been its taxing yet fair perma-death feature. Unlike previous iterations in the franchise, Fire Emblem: Awakening sports a Casual option that allows players to play without the risk of losing their characters in battle. In a recent interview, the dudes at Intelligent Systems revealed that they didn't always agree on adding this mode.

Project Manager Masahiro Higuchi explained that perma-death put a lot of folks off in the past and kept them from playing Fire Emblem. He went on to say that while he plays Classic mode, plenty of players have been enjoying Casual mode. Ultimately, Higuchi believes that adding this option was a good move.

"Personally, the first time I heard about [the idea of Casual mode], I was like 'no way,'" stated Director Genki Yokota. "My boss brought up the idea, and just like Higuchi-san, I was angry at the thought of going too casual. But in the end, we figured giving players a choice would help expand the appeal of the game. Plus, with Awakening, there are a lot of good characters -— you can see how some people would want a mode where they could keep all of them alive and not have to worry about death all the time. Believe it or not, now I play exclusively in Casual mode."

Yokota believes that both the Classic and Casual offerings have a lot to offer fans of Awakening. The director then stated that he's not sure if the next Fire Emblem will feature the former, though it's always a possibility.

How do you play Awakening? Do you keep it old school with perma-death on? Or do you prefer a bit more of an easygoing experience?

[Nintendo]

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