Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo... when will you learn? If you want to show off a trailer for a new game, particularly if said trailer is entirely in Japanese, you really should tell us what game it is first. Especially if the trailer bears very little resemblance to what we know of the title(s) in question. Surely that would make sense? While your little puppet caricatures were awesome, and your banana-staring silliness raised a smile, we really had no clue what that Genei Ibun Roku #FE trailer you played at your digital E3 event was...
Until today that was, when it came to downloading all the screenshots, videos and fact sheets to write up everything that happened at the show. With a meaningless title and a trailer that makes it look like some kind of idol game, it comes as no surprise that we didn't recognise it as the mash up of two of the best strategy role playing games out there, Shin Megami Tensei/Fire Emblem, first revealed for the Wii U way back in 2013.
Now we know that it's supposed to be Fire Emblem, we can kind of see it.
Telling an epic tale of strange beings known as 'Mirages' - beings with immeasurable amounts of power from an alternate dimension - that have begun invading modern day Tokyo, some inherently evil, some less so, the game's mysterious new race seems to have a bit of an unhealthy interest in the creative arts. The friendlier beings are drawn to humans they view as having tremendous creative potential, sharing their powers to help their chosen companions guard humanity from the bad egg Mirages. Known as Mirage Masters, these powered up humans work as great entertainers and artists by day, polishing their singing and acting skills - but must also fight the invading Mirages that threaten the stability of the world they know by night.
It's a concept that doesn't really sound like it draws on either franchise to be honest, at least at this preliminary stage. After all - Shin Megami Tensei is a bit of a dark series, in which you recruit demons to fight the forces of evil in a war-torn, post-apocalyptic world, and Fire Emblem is a fantasy role-playing game, set in a medieval world of tactical, turn-based battles, famed for it's memorable characters and perma-death for any units that fall on the battlefield. Neither world has much to do with pop music, either, which makes the collaboration seem all the stranger - if strangely appealing in a "WTF Japan?" way.
Looks like someone forgot to finish getting dressed...
Still, it's early days yet, given the game isn't hitting Japanese Wii Us until later this year, with Europe and the USA following sometime in 2016. Hopefully things will seem a little clearer by then - seeing as at the moment, we're more than a little confused, even if we are of the opinion that more role-playing games for the Wii U is never a bad thing. Why not see if you can make head or tail of the trailer below:
