Fire Emblem Fates is more than just a dating sim with same sex marriage

The biggest news you'll see surrounding Fire Emblem Fates  is that same sex marriages will be in the game, which was confirmed in a press release today from Nintendo. This is a great step forward for everyone, especially after Nintendo was stuck between a rock and a hard place on the same issue for the North American release of Tomodachi Life. However, there's much more to Fire Emblem Fates than being a marriage simulator.

The recent English translation of Iwata Asks: Fire Emblem Fates provides a great look into how the game came together and why some features are the way they are. It's a great read for anyone interested in behind the scenes of game development. Here are just a few points that may interest fans:

Shin Kibayashi is doing the story.

While his name may not be the most immediately recognizable, due in part to his fondness for pen names, he has been credited as a story writer for manga, anime, TV dramas, movies, novels, and even Kabuki shows. Some of his works that you may be familiar with include Bloody Monday, Psychometrer Eiji, Kindaichi Case Files, Detective School Q, and GetBackers.

The My Castle feature is pretty big.

According to the staff that worked on the game, the My Castle feature has enough bells and whistles to pass as a game all on its own. It was originally planned to be a StreetPass feature, but was expanded upon throughout development and moved up to using internet connectivity to allow players in more remote areas to get the full experience.

Fire Emblem Fates wasn't supposed to exist.

The staff at Intelligent Systems was told that Fire Emblem as a series wasn't doing well enough, and that Fire Emblem: Awakening would be the final entry in the series. In light of this, the team strove to make a game with all of their ideas and leave no regrets. When the title became a huge success and sold really well in the West too, the guys at marketing told them to make on another.

How do you feel about Fire Emblem Fates? Feel free to sound off in the comments and let us know what you're looking forward to the most when it finally comes West.

[Polygon]