Cipher Frontier • Issue 56
Table of contents
Issue 56: A Special Project! A Surprise Interview With Producer Kawade!
Hello, everyooone!!!!!!!!
Just one month left until the release of series 22, The Heroes' Paean!
Characters from every entry in the series make an appearance, correct? If that is the case, it will make for a fitting end.
Based on what you've told us so far, sounds like there's gonna be a great lineup of cards, huh?
Val! Have you placed our preorder and prepared my wallet?
Of course. All is in order. All that is left is to wait.
With that said, it's right before our next release date...
This time, we have a special program: an interview with Producer Kawade!
Ohhh!!
The developer has information on things that only the staff would know...
Hehee, I am looking forward to seeing what we will hear.
Let's call him in. Producer Kawade! Come in!
Hello everyone. I'm Kawade, producer behind Fire Emblem Cipher.
It's been a while. Well, we have plenty we would like to ask you today.
It's been a little over 5 years since Cipher first hit the shelves... what are your thoughts?
The time has gone by in the blink of an eye, since I've been busy with various tasks such as game development and events. But to put it in perspective, people who started playing the game in elementary school are in high school now, and those who started playing it in high school might be working adults... so it really has been a long time.
But preparations started long before the game actually released, right?
Yes, we started project planning around half a year after Awakening released. So if you count that time, we've been working on Cipher for over 7 years.
I am curious how Cipher began. I would be honored if you could tell us.
After Awakening released, there was talk among the staff about introducing a new product into the Fire Emblem brand to make things more exciting. I suggested we make a TCG (trading card game), and so they said "Well then, Kawade, get to work." And that was the start of the project, haha.
Whoa, sounds like it was pretty sudden, huh? So then you started working on it?
Well, first we had to determine whether or not a TCG was a suitable product for Fire Emblem in the first place. Actually drafting up game rules and such would come much, much later.
Whether or not it was suitable... so you started out by thinking about that? That seems like a tough question...
There must have been some difficulties, no?
Of course. I actually struggled because I didn't know anyone who was particularly familiar with TCGs. As far as TCGs go, it's not just about making a game, but also promoting the game, planning events, etc--what you would call "operations". We had no staff with experience in doing that sort of thing.
Making a TCG isn't just about making a game... ops work is vital...
I'd played TCGs before, but it had been such a long time... so the first thing I did was look into the current TCG scene by talking with various people directly.
My, such legwork. If I had been there, I could have helped you with a little warp magic...
It was hard work, but all of the different opinions I got to hear were very helpful. And it was very lucky, but there were actually TCG fans at Nintendo who offered me a lot of assistance. With all of that, we were able to draft a plan for Cipher.
So after that, you made Cipher!
That's right! ...no, I wish it were that simple... after that, there was a lot of back-and-forth on the core issue: how to play the game. We spent a long time testing various rules, trashing them, and going back to the drawing board.
Those are the pains of creation... what were some of those rules that ended up rejected?
Rules that would change what skills characters could use depending on who was adjacent to them, rules in which characters from each team would fight each other one-by-one like in kendo or judo, rules involving territory and invasions, all sorts of things like that.
Whoa, that all sounds pretty interesting!
We even had some plans for "acquaintance" and "friend" cards that you could play between characters to strengthen their bonds, which would eventually become "love" and "marriage", haha!
So that's how you arrived at the rules we see now.
So what made you decide on the rules that you ended up using?
We decided to prioritize ease-of-play and that Fire Emblem feel.
Fire Emblem feel... ease of play... so abstract...
When compared to video games, the sort of things you can do in a card game are without a doubt more limited. But even with this limitation, we tried to find elements that would make people feel like they were still playing a Fire Emblem game, like weapon ranges and the potential for attacks to miss.
On top of that, in video games, the computer handles all of the calculations, but in a card game, the players have to handle that sort of thing. So we had to simplify a lot of elements. For example, the weapon triangle is really emblematic of the series, but if you have to remember it for every battle, it really slows the game down, so we ended up leaving it out.
No matter how interesting it is, if it is too complicated and slow, people will end up not wanting to play.
That's right. You have to strike that balance.
So after all that effort, you finally finished it and released the game.
What a relief that all that hard work paid off!
No... even after we released the game, there was still much work to do. After all, just three months later we would be releasing the next series, and that cycle would continue, so there was no time to rest.
It's... it's endless...
And outside of the game itself, there was event support, maintaining our website and twitter, tutorials and livestreams, making goods... it was really a mountain of work.
But thanks to the hard work of all of our staff, we were able to maintain our pace all the way until the very end with series 22.
Speaking of tutorials, there were quite a lot of tutorial events held right after release, weren't there?
The best way for our audience to learn the fun of the game was for them to get to play it themselves, so we held our hands-on tutorial events all over the country. For that first half a year, I was visiting 2 or 3 different shops a day, even on most holidays and weekends.
Hohoh... such great lengths!
Yes, I even had to practice "playing for fun" in the staff room so that, at events where I was playing against our audience, I could ensure they would have a good time playing, haha.
Man, what a good guy! After all, if you want to show everyone how fun Cipher is, you've gotta make sure they're having a good time!
It was a lot of hard work, but getting to talk with our audience about Fire Emblem and Cipher was my favorite part of the job. It's because of events like our tutorials that I was able to meet our fans and make memories.
Outside of the tutorial sessions, which events left an impression on you?
My lady certainly enjoyed every Cipherfest.
Cipherfest was a lot of fun too. After all, our staff originated as video game developers, so getting to create an event at such a large venue by ourselves was a refreshing experience. And the content we had was the sort of thing that Fire Emblem fans as a whole could enjoy, not just those who were interested in Cipher.
Mini concerts and talk shows... coloring... Tap Tap Sumo... Cipherfest Quest and Fire Emblem goods... many fun events...
Every summer we had events from Hokkaido all the way down to Kyushu, but I was shocked to see how many people attended every event across the country.
There are a lot of deeply fervent Fire Emblem fans.
It's thanks to those fans that Fire Emblem, Cipher included, has been able to continue for 30 years. We are all very grateful.
I liked the Cipher livestreams! I want to hear more about those!
It was our first time doing anything like a livestream, too, so there was a lot of trial and error at first. There was plenty that we didn't show on stream. It was a great learning experience, haha.
Was there anything that you tried to keep in mind when creating the livestreams?
Participating in events like Cipherfest and the Summer Tour would be difficult for anyone who wasn't in the area. So for that reason, we prioritized making the livestreams something anyone across the internet could enjoy regardless of where they lived. We wanted to share "FE time" with our fans.
Without a doubt, it had an atmosphere as though the viewers were enjoying the program alongside the hosts. So the livestreams also felt like an event.
If that's how the viewers felt watching it, I would be very happy.
It was a great opportunity to get to hear from the voice talent and illustrators associated with the Fire Emblem series too.
We otherwise didn't get much chance for direct communication with the voice actors and artists, so I felt like I got a lot closer with all of them through the livestreams.
I get it! So Cipher isn't just a card game--with the events and livestreams, it's a whole experience!
As I would expect from my lady. What a curious way of putting it.
Yes. From the beginning, we weren't just aiming to create a card game, we were looking for something that could connect fans to each other.
Up until this point, there hasn't been much opportunity for Fire Emblem fans to interact with one another. Cipher was meant to give new fans and veterans alike the chance to interact, bring new people to the series, and generate hype. We kept that in mind when we were creating the product, the events, and the livestreams.
Those goals... were they realized...?
I think Cipher was able to renew the appeal of the series and give a new way for people to meet and enjoy one another.
These too will end with the end of Cipher, but I hope you all will stick around until the very end.
Heheh, I do hope to enjoy our time together until our grand finale.
And that concludes our little interview. Do you have any final words for those reading Cipher Frontier right now?
While development on Fire Emblem Cipher has ended, new Fire Emblem games will continue to release. I would be incredibly grateful if Cipher became the catalyst for you taking an interest in those as well. There are a lot of interesting cards coming in series 22, and event support will continue until March of next year, so I hope you continue to enjoy Cipher until the very end! Thank you for having me today!
Thank youuu!!!!!!!!