It’s fair to say that the release of Fire Emblem: Heroes has been the big talking point in mobile over the past few days. That’s not really a surprise, since it’s Nintendo’s second mobile game, and first real foray into the free to play world.
I think the most interesting point that’s come out of the discussions is that people don’t really know what they want. What do I mean by that? Well, look at the backlash that surrounded Super Mario Run.
That was essentially a premium game with a demo. You played for a bit, then if you wanted to keep playing you had to buy the whole thing. This, apparently, was tantamount to daylight robbery.
But with Fire Emblem, it appears the consternation of the mobile gaming masses has stemmed from just the opposite. It’s free to play, there’s no complete game IAP, and apparently that’s evil as well.
It’s almost like people just want to rage against anything, but then I suppose that’s what the internet has become for. A loud minority of people shouting as loudly as possible that something they “love” has been ruined by… something.
And here’s the thing, as free to play mobile RPGs go, Fire Emblem is actually pretty good. I’ve played a good few hours of it and not hit a single paywall, not been trapped by any difficulty spikes, and not thought for a second about having to spend anything.
Although that doesn’t seem to be the point. In fact I wonder how many people railing against Fire Emblem: Heroes have actually taken the time to play it. If you have, I’m interested in what you think.
This is always the danger when big franchises come to mobile though, because they bring with them a fanbase that doesn’t really understand how mobile works. Or how companies make money from their games.
Fire Emblem: Heroes is a good game. I’m going to finish writing this and then go play some more of it. Super Mario Run is a great game, and both show that Nintendo is serious about hitting mobile hard.
My suggestion is don’t listen to the doom mongers. Go out there and find out for yourself. I’m surprised at just how entertaining Fire Emblem is, and I reckon you might be as well.
