The concept for different versions of the game originated from Producer Hitoshi Yamagami's memories of the first Fire Emblem, which allowed for choosing different protagonists but did not change the story. The team decided to create multiple versions of the game, wanting to play from both sides of a conflict and show both sides as neither good nor evil. Their initial plan was to include a single choice between one kingdom or the other, but Yamagami wanted a neutral path where neither side was chosen, so a third version of the game was planned as DLC.