Shortly after Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem was revealed to the world, an interview with Atlus producer Shinjiro Takada was revealed, and immediately translated, regarding the game.
Takada leans closer to the SMT than the Persona side of Atlus, having worked on the Devil Survivor series that directly preceded Persona. Interestingly enough, Takada refers to collaborating, not necessarily with Fire Emblem devs Intelligent Systems, but with Nintendo itself, to ensure that it would fit the standard of what a Fire Emblem game is. Perhaps instead of the full team, they did most of their collaboration with one or two Intelligent Systems head devs and designers.
Atlus and Nintendo settled on this idea that SMT X FE would feature real characters with the concerns and worries of modern day Japanese, on top of which they could build on the characteristics of a Fire Emblem game.
Famed character designer toi8 was taken on to design the characters in the game, to help in achieving this particular look. The game looks colorful and bright, and also refined and familiar enough for longtime fans.
Takada ends the interview with a surprise revelation.SMT X FE had many guest collaborators, whom they will reveal later. Don’t be surprised to find out Persona 5’s producer director Katsura Hashino was involved in this game as well.
SMT X FE will be released in Japan for the Wii U this holiday 2015, with dates forthcoming for US and Europe. Check out some screenshots of the game featuring toi8’s work below.