98-076 Student Taught Courses (StuCo): Fire Emblem Design and Analysis
3 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Fire Emblem is one of Nintendos longestrunning franchises. From the olden days of Marth on the NES to debates about whether Edelgard did nothing wrong, Fire Emblem has undergone numerous evolutions in gameplay and story. But how did these changes come about Why did Kouhei Maeda introduce face petting and ship wars Is Seth really the most broken unit in the series And are the crests really to blame This course will seek to answer those questions and more. In Fire Emblem Design and Analysis, students will gain a deeper understanding of the game design, mechanics, and writing of Fire Emblem series. Through examining similarities and differences in these aspects of game design throughout the series, students will gain a deeper understanding of overarching principles of game design and strategy. Specifically, this course will look at unit and character design, the evolution of game mechanics eg durability, skills, the weapon triangle, weapon weight throughout the series, common unit archetypes and tropes, the bases vs growth debate and the optimal way to play Fire Emblem, the lore and storyline of various Fire Emblem games both good and bad, and character writing through supports.
Prerequisites: none listed
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