Crossovers are an abundance in the gaming scene nowadays, with all parties involved traditionally benefitting in a big way as a result. There's an excitement surrounding the premise of seeing two universes collide which extends beyond the medium itself, and it's plain to see that a bevy of organizations have begun capitalizing on that stigma. Whether it's as fun-filled as Crash Bandicoot invading Skylanders or as heavily anticipated as Mario vs. Sonic, crossovers often serve their purpose for the companies participating – while some simply remain ideas that are then placed on the backburner.

One such example of this is a proposed Pokemon and Fire Emblem mashup, which would have seen the two properties coming together to create one cohesive and strategy-filled experience. Nintendo director Hitoshi Yamagami revealed as much to fans in a companion book for Japanese gaming mag Nintendo Dream. In the interview, he detailed the alleged project that Nintendo producer Kaori Ando had dreamt up.

"5 years ago, Ms. Ando proposed a plan [for a crossover], saying “You know, I think FE and Pokemon‘s rules are pretty compatible!” Though I agreed with her, by chance the Pokemon group had already proposed what eventually became Pokemon Conquest at the same time [so we were unable to follow through]."

As stated by Yamagami, the pitch fell through because The Pokemon Company already had plans to create Pokemon Conquest (a crossover between the aforementioned Pocket Monsters franchise and Tecmo Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition) for the Nintendo DS. As a result, the developers went back to the drawing board, ultimately getting Atlus involved for a Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei crossover that would eventually became Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

Hearing about what could have been in the world of gaming is a bittersweet undertaking, but it's always interesting to learn what could have been. In this case, gamers got something wholly unique for the Wii U and Nintendo DS, respectively. With that said, a pairing of Pokemon and Fire Emblem could have been something even more spectacular.

While some fans are now surely left wondering "What if?", it's important to note that the crossover hasn't been removed completely from the table. On that note, it could even be reproached and resurrected on Nintendo's NX console which is set to arrive in March 2017, although it's still far from clear which games will arrive for the mysterious new platform at launch. This is simply a suggestion on this writer's end, but perhaps the proposed title isn't as dead as some may believe it to be – then again maybe it is.

Source: Nintendo Everything