• Western fans coerced Intelligent Systems to add features, such as petting dogs and cats, into Fire Emblem Three Houses
• The additional Sauna activity was originally meant to be a male and female bathroom

It is no secret that many video game fans are also animal lovers. From the Nintendogs craze to feeding the animals in Breath of the Wild, Nintendo fans are enthusiastic when it comes to interacting with household pets in video games. In a recent interview with Famitsu, series icons Toshiyuki Kusakihara and Genki Yokota revealed a few development secrets on the latest Fire Emblem Three Houses DLC, which includes the ability to interact with cats and dogs. In addition, they discussed the inclusion of the sauna activity. Let’s dive in.

It’s Raining Cats and Dogs

In a recent interview with Famitsu, series director Toshiyuki Kusakihara explained the challenges of allowing players to interact with animals in the newest Fire Emblem game. Animals were originally not included in the monastery due to the amount of design detail. Kusakihara was able to include dogs and cats in the base game; however, he could not figure out an elegant way for players to interact with these household pets. After nearly giving up, Kusakihara received numerous requests from Western players to add this feature in the DLC. Kusakihara decided to try again and tasked Yokota with adding interactivity to the monastery cats and dogs.

When co-director Yokota only put cats into the game, several members of the staff responded by stating, “Why are there no dogs?!” In the end, the cat lovers won by having 15 types in the game as opposed to only three types of dogs. The good news is that players can now interact with both cats and dogs in a unique way to receive rewards and special items. In the latest Fire Emblem Three Houses DLC update, the game also displays breed names when talking to these animals.

Saunas and Bathrooms

According to Kusakihara, the development team had always planned to include bathrooms in the main game. However, the main issue was how to portray the characters. The development team was not in favor of a closed background with an implied action; therefore, they looked for a more elegant way to incorporate the new activity. The staff presented the idea of a sauna, which Kusakihara readily accepted because characters could maintain their clothes. In addition, a background for the sauna was easier to portray than a bathroom.

The only problem was that the staff ran out of time to incorporate the sauna activity into the base game at launch. Although Kusakihara was unable to include the sauna at the time of release, the DLC update does include the sauna activity. Spending time in the sauna is a welcomed activity that can greatly increase a characters skills for the month. Be sure to check it out!

Conclusion

While interacting with animals in Fire Emblem Three Houses DLC is interesting, the sauna also adds another unique gameplay element. It is refreshing to see that Nintendo is listening to fans when it comes to downloadable content and expansions.

But we want to know what you think. Are you excited about the new story DLC? What about the addition of Byleth in Super Smash Bros Ultimate? Will you purchase both DLC packs? Let us know in the comments below or the social media links on the right. Also, check out our SSBU article on Byleth as well as other news items on Pokemon, Modern Warfare, and Blizzard. Until next time, enjoy!