I don't know anything about coding or anything else about the technical aspects of game development, but in terms of stuff like the characters and storyline of Fire Emblem, I think it would be possible to have a scale not too dumbed down from FE. Of course, you probably wouldn't need AS many characters as FE (Radiant Dawn featured 72 playable characters, each of whom you could fully customise and develop) but something similar could be possible. Oh and by the way Squarezero, I don't own a DS but I've read and heard an overwhelming consensus that the DS remakes are probably the worst Fire Emblems made. In my opinion, the best ones were the GBA ones (Fuin no Tsurugi, Rekka no Ken and the Sacred Stones) which had some of the best sprite animations I've ever seen in a GBA game, closely followed by the console ones.
If this is the worst one, can't imagine what they must have been like in their original platform... This game got me hooked right away. I think you got exactly what I meant by scaling down -- you could work with a smaller character set, fewer locations, and I think it could still work.
Well, if you're new to the series (I'm assuming you are, but correct me if I'm wrong) then I guess the DS ones would be a good start. But I highly recommended getting a GBA emulator and playing at least the two localised FE games (Rekka no Ken, Sacred Stones) if you want a true quality TBS RPG. Sacred Stones should probably be played first, as it's a bit more casual, while Rekka no Ken gives a much more 'Fire Emblem feel'. After that, if you have a Wii, the console ones are also really good. Oh, and here's part of what I mean by awesome critical animations. I heard that the DS ones don't have critical animations, is this true? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqSd7S0OoPg Sorry, slightly off-topic, but I still maintain that OP should make a TBS RPG.
Hmm, looks like I did good to raise the Strategy RPG issue . @ Eduku, I am not much of a Gameloft fan either, but they are the king of rip-offs/homages on iPhone, that's why I asked for them. And maybe, creating a game of Fire Emblem's depth requires more studio-power (no offense to indie developers, I don't have much idea about real-world game development). If Sauce Digital can pull it off, then I will be really grateful. @ squarezero, really the DS version is the worst one. If you want to play Fire Emblem, go for Rekka no Ken. It is the best game I ever played. And Thracia 776 is good too, although the translation patch is not perfect.
Well I say they can't do it because of the genre of RPGs. They can keep ripping off action games all they want but I really don't think they get the depth of an RPG, and Dungeon Hunter proved that. I agree that Rekka no Ken is probably the best out of the series (although just by a little). Although, I like playing through Sacred Stones with a pure Swordmaster team at the end, because they are just pure awesome. Also, this discussion has made me fire up FF: Tactics all over again.
Well, considering I shelled out $20 on the DS version (and I've really enjoyed what I've played so far), I think I'll see it through to the end. But thanks for the head's: I now know where to go next in the series . @Edoku: I couldn't agree more about Gameloft, and I'm also not a GL hater. It would be great if they paired their coding prowess with a great designer and decent writer (not to mention voice talent). But that's not going to happen, sadly.
