Intelligent Systems Talk Advance Wars And Fire Emblem Differences

In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, Intelligent Systems, the developers of Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, share their thoughts on the differences between the two series of turn-based strategy games.

“One of the main differences is whether you can build more units. In Advance Wars the main part of your army consists of weapons such as tanks and it’s possible to just build them one after another,” says project manager Masahiro Higuchi.

“However, the units in Fire Emblem are characters you can be emotionally invested in, they are important people that you can’t just build more of. At the same time there is also human drama between the characters, telling a spectacular story.”

Director Kouhei Maeda adds: “An obvious difference between Advance Wars and Fire Emblem is that one has tanks in a modern war setting, while the other has knights in a fantasy setting. But there is also a big difference in the gameplay with one being strategy and the other being role-playing strategy. In addition to the pure strategy elements, Fire Emblem adds role-playing elements with the characters on your side growing and gaining in experience as they fight.”

As for whether Intelligent Systems have any Advance Wars games in development, Maeda says: “Whether or not we have plans to bring out a new entry in the Advance Wars series is a secret.”