Want to get into Fire Emblem, what game in the series should I start off with?

[GuffMcGufferson]

I was thinking of starting off with Awakening, but I thought maybe starting with an older title, like the GBA titles. Now I can't make up my mind on what game I should start with. Any titles you guys think are good for a beginner like me?

 

[FamilyTeam]

I started out with Awakening and, honestly, it seems like a good starting point. It basically has almost all of the good features from previous titles plus a few more (it was meant to be the last game, I heard, so they tried putting as much into it as possible).
When it comes to difficulty, Normal is pretty easy and Lunatic is crazy hard, so you atleast have the choice in that regard.
It has a really wide character roster, and probably the most varied one from the entire series (can't speak for Fates, I haven't played that one).
And when it comes to the story, it's not the most original thing ever, but it's still pretty fun to go through, you get plenty of characters all the time so you can have a big variety of strategies and setups, and the Support system encourages you to pair up different units together to make them stronger and see more dialogue. And I think the game lasted me about 30 hours-ish? It's a pretty decent length.

Whatever you decide to do, have fun!

 

[LancerStaff]

No, nononono. Don't start with Awakening. The gameplay is awful because Pair Up is a broken PoS and the characters are the worst in the series. Sacred Stones is a good start because the gameplay is actually balanced and you can grind if necessary.

 

[FamilyTeam]

No, nononono. Don't start with Awakening. The gameplay is awful because Pair Up is a broken PoS and the characters are the worst in the series. Sacred Stones is a good start because the gameplay is actually balanced and you can grind if necessary.

That's... kind of mean to say. Saying that the characters are the worst in the series seems kinda subjective and Pair Up was a really interesting addition.

 

[LancerStaff]

That's... kind of mean to say. Saying that the characters are the worst in the series seems kinda subjective and Pair Up was a really interesting addition.

Pair up is fine in Fates because it was balanced out... In Awakening the game basically becomes "pair up or die" and takes almost no skill because of it. Even the highest difficultly doesn't even take skill because the only way through the early chapters is praying the the AI makes dumber then usual moves until you unlock the ability to grind.

The vast majority of the cast are literal one-note jokes. "Would steal candy from a baby," "the guy everybody forgets," "the obsessive chick," "the country bumpkin," so on and so fourth... The majority of these characters don't evolve past these shallow descriptions. Even the main characters and the overall plot are incredibly boring. Fates doesn't really fix this though...

 

[Frizz]

I would definitely recommend one of the newer titles. The older titles has things like Fog, Ballistas, Light magic, The Magic Triangle, Con, Rescue, and Affinity which will take some time to get used to. Also, I think Fates removed weapon durability, so you won't have to stress out about weapon management all that much. So my vote goes for Awakening or Fates. I haven't played Fates, but I heard the Hoshido path is very kind to beginners. Combine that with Phoenix mode, or Casual mode, and you got yourself a game that'll hold your hand most of the way.

 

[Minato]

The guy's not looking for the epitome of balance strategic gameplay on highest difficulty level. Who cares if pair up is incredibly strong mechanic? He is asking what would be a good game for a beginner. Awakening has its flaws like any other FE, but there's a reason why it introduced a new group of people into the franchise with the amount of stuff you can casually do. It's perfectly fine to start with Awakening GuffMcGufferson

With difficulty options and the ability to have permadeath on/off, feel free to chose whatever you're most comfortable with.

But if there's a something specific that interests you about a past title too, don't hesitate to start on that one.

 

[DarkAuraful]

I was thinking of starting off with Awakening, but I thought maybe starting with an older title, like the GBA titles. Now I can't make up my mind on what game I should start with. Any titles you guys think are good for a beginner like me?

In terms of the newer titles, Awakening and Fates Birthright are good games to get into for a newcomer. If you're going to get the older GBA titles, I'd personally recommend Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword and Sacred Stones. Binding Blade not so much since I find it to be unbalanced and too hard.

Overall, I'd say Awakening (just don't get your hopes up for lunatic mode) for the newer titles. Blazing Sword for the GBA titles. Personally I'd lean more Blazing Sword since I find some of Awakening's objectives to be kinda bland, but both will give you a satisfying experience.

 

[FamilyTeam]

In terms of the newer titles, Awakening and Fates Birthright are good games to get into for a newcomer. If you're going to get the older GBA titles, I'd personally recommend Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword and Sacred Stones. Binding Blade not so much since I find it to be unbalanced and too hard.

Overall, I'd say Awakening (just don't get your hopes up for lunatic mode) for the newer titles. Blazing Sword for the GBA titles. Personally I'd lean more Blazing Sword since I find some of Awakening's objectives to be kinda bland, but both will give you a satisfying experience.

I feel Awakening maybe would be easier to find so it would be more viable to start through that one.

 

[TurboLink]

Sadly Awakening or Fates.

 

[DarkAuraful]

I feel Awakening maybe would be easier to find so it would be more viable to start through that one.

I suppose that makes more sense. Though I'd assume he can get the GBA titles through eShop anyway but whatever works.

 

[FamilyTeam]

Sadly Awakening or Fates.

Why "sadly"?

 

[TurboLink]

Why "sadly"?

Because they're both jokes of games. Also, I don't like the direction they took Fire Emblem into.

 

[FamilyTeam]

I really hope this thread doesn't become "**** on the new Fire Emblem games"

 

[FamilyTeam]

Not even gonna dignify that with a reply.

Anyway, GuffMcGufferson , I wouldn't shy away from the newer entries. So far, I've played Awakening, PoR and SD, and I liked all of those. I have a friend that's a big fangirl of the GBA games and she likes Fates. I think that the newer ones are just everything the older ones were, but more.

 

[LeifEriksson]

Awakening I loved, so I think you should start with that. For some reason, I can't really get into fates, so I can't easily recommend it. But I can see why other people like it.

Probably because it feels like a game for weeaboos Kappa

 

[Tino]

I started out with Awakening myself so I would either give that a go or start with any of the older ones like Fire Emblem on the Game Boy Advance. I wouldn't recommend Fates yet though.

 

[LancerStaff]

The guy's not looking for the epitome of balance strategic gameplay on highest difficulty level. Who cares if pair up is incredibly strong mechanic? He is asking what would be a good game for a beginner. Awakening has its flaws like any other FE, but there's a reason why it introduced a new group of people into the franchise with the amount of stuff you can casually do. It's perfectly fine to start with Awakening GuffMcGufferson

With difficulty options and the ability to have permadeath on/off, feel free to chose whatever you're most comfortable with.

But if there's a something specific that interests you about a past title too, don't hesitate to start on that one.

It's not about high level play. It's that the tactics game requires no tactics whatsoever. Every map is won by pairing up a few good characters and marching them around. This isn't something like TP where you can flounder around with worse options, pairing up is basically required to win. There's only one option. At any level people can tell you this is **** design.

There's no point in starting with Awakening because there's almost objectively more fun FE games to play. If you're concerned about difficultly you should play Fates anyway since you can scale it down between levels with a press of a button... If you're a 20-30yo that been playing video games your whole life you can start with pretty much any English game just fine. I'd avoid Shadow Dragon and Radiant Dawn though... The former has nearly no story (being an NES game) and they have huge balance issues again. SD had a ton of new mechanics introduced but not really balanced for, and RD's difficulty is kinda all over the place since one team you play as sucks so much. And RD being a direct sequel to PoR spoils a ton of things for you if you really care that much.

 

[LeifEriksson]

There's no point in starting with Awakening because there's almost objectively more fun FE games to play.

I disagree, I personally liked Awakening much more than titles in the past. It's because of the lowered difficulty more people were able to enjoy it. Yes, the combat might not be as deep as the previous games, but that doesn't make it objectively less fun. It makes it more accessible.

 

[FamilyTeam]

There's no point in starting with Awakening because there's almost objectively more fun FE games to play.

I stopped reading at this. A game can't objectively be more fun than the other. In the end, it's personal taste.

 

[TurboLink]

TC, just start with Path of Radiance.

After I played Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu I could never go back to Fire Emblem: Awakening.

 

[LancerStaff]

I disagree, I personally liked Awakening much more than titles in the past. It's because of the lowered difficulty more people were able to enjoy it. Yes, the combat might not be as deep as the previous games, but that doesn't make it objectively less fun. It makes it more accessible.

Then play Fates because it's balance isn't garbage... You miss nothing by skipping Awakening.

I stopped reading at this. A game can't objectively be more fun than the other. In the end, it's personal taste.

Which is why I said "almost." You can measure things like balance and depth though, and Awakening has none.

I'm sorry but I've had more fun playing even Sticker Star then Awakening and I hate that game.

 

[FamilyTeam]

Yes, this thread is gonna become "**** on Awakening and Fates", sadly...

 

[LancerStaff]

Yo, I think Fates is fine. Story and characters are trash but the gameplay's good. As long as the story isn't actively making me avoid the game well it's close and the gameplay is good I'd say it's still a good game.

 

[LeifEriksson]

I don't get why people act all elitist when Fire Emblem comes up. Nobody tells you to skip Super Mario Galaxy because they thought Mario Sunshine was more deep mechanically. They are two different games which can have two different appeals.

 

[FamilyTeam]

I don't get why people act all elitist when Fire Emblem comes up. Nobody tells you to skip Super Mario Galaxy because they thought Mario Sunshine was more deep mechanically. They are two different games which can have two different appeals.

...Frankly, these people are to FE what Genwunners are to Pokemon.

 

[Bowserboy3]

You should get Shadow Dragon on DS, because Marth is best waifu.



But in all seriousness, start out with one of the newer ones, like Awakening, or even Birthright. I'd say Awakening is a good starting point, because while it's gameplay is kinda centralised around one point, it will get you into the basics of Fire Emblem pretty well. It's a shame Awakening is kinda broken, because some of the characters in there are really my favourites in the series (Chrom, Lucina, Robin, Miriel etc, I love them all).

I personally like Fates, Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem (the sequel to Shadow Dragon, Japan only, however).

 

[LancerStaff]

I don't get why people act all elitist when Fire Emblem comes up. Nobody tells you to skip Super Mario Galaxy because they thought Mario Sunshine was more deep mechanically. They are two different games which can have two different appeals.

That's because there's deeper fundamental differences between SMS and SMG... Going from one FE game to the next the biggest difference is how good individual units are. There's no point starting with the lesser ones when you could play the better ones first.

...Frankly, these people are to FE what Genwunners are to Pokemon.

Hey, I just said Fates was good. Awakening is just an irredeemable piece of trash in my eyes.

 

[Minato]

Well since the topic creator hasn't posted and he's gotten a lot of feedback, I think this thread is done for now.