Here's a question I see being asked a lot. If you've never played Fire Emblem before and Marth's fabulousness in Smash has drawn you in, are coming from Heroes and want to get into the main series, or have only played the 3DS games and want to start playing the older games, where to start?
First, let's have a bit of music as an accompaniment, because I probably went overboard on this so it's a pretty long read:
The first thing you'll probably want to know is that in general, most games in the series are related to only one other game in terms of the story, and instead have their own continuities. The series has a couple of "sub-series" - think something like how most Final Fantasy games have unrelated stories, but some entries like X and XIII have sequels of their own (X-2, XIII-2, etc). Here's what I mean:
You might also like to know which games the FE characters featured in Smash originate from:
If there's one you particularly enjoy playing as, it's not a terrible idea to seek out their first game and start from there (though personally I would advise against starting with The Binding Blade, for reasons we'll come to in a bit, and for obvious reasons it's not a good idea to start with a sequel like Mystery of the Emblem or Radiant Dawn).
But the important thing to take away from here is that in terms of the story, it doesn't matter a great deal which one you start with, as long as it's not a direct sequel to another game.
One common concern people have is permadeath. Obviously if you're not used to the idea, the possibility of permanently losing the characters you've worked with throughout the game might seem daunting. Luckily, more recent games in the series have introduced the option of Casual (or Newcomer, in PAL versions) mode, in which defeated characters are not permanently lost, and instead return at the end of a battle. So points in favour of Awakening and Fates there (I would include New Mystery of the Emblem here, but...). You could also just look at The Sacred Stones, which is easy enough that even a beginner should have little difficulty in avoiding losing anyone.
In general the Japan-only games aren't a good place to start. The two NES games both have heavily outdated mechanics that make them difficult to get into for a newcomer to the series, so you shouldn't start there. The three SNES games and The Binding Blade too suffer from feeling somewhat outdated, and each of the first three games have received remakes that do a lot to modernise them and make them more accessible. Genealogy of the Holy War is best known for its massive maps, which aren't particularly welcoming to newcomers, and Thracia 776 just has so many things it expects you to just "know" about how the series works, that it should arguably be among the last games in the series you consider playing. As for The Binding Blade, while it is the game that Roy comes from, again it's not particularly beginner-friendly - reinforcements can appear and attack on the same turn, for example, potentially putting you in a very difficult situation if you don't know to expect them.
All of this is not even considering the issue of how to acquire any of these games and play them in English, which is the main issue ruling out New Mystery of the Emblem (that plus the fact it's a sequel to Shadow Dragon, so you'd likely miss a small number of story elements).
So with these in mind, where's a good place to start? Excluding games which are direct sequels to another game, we're left with The Blazing Blade, The Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Shadow Dragon, Awakening, Fates, and Shadows of Valentia.
The main issue with Path of Radiance is quite simply its extreme rarity. Right now on eBay, the game goes for anything between €70 (~$80 US) and €500 (~$587 US). So unless you have money to burn, just wait for a re-release or remake. If not for that, it's a reasonable place to start with, particularly if you've already played other strategy RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics or Shining Force, and have some idea of what to do.
Shadows of Valentia, too, is perhaps better left until you have a little more experience in the genre under your belt. It's certainly one of the stronger entries in the series, but many of its mechanics are relatively far removed from the gameplay of the other games, so if you start here you'll still have a lot more to learn if you choose to play another FE game afterwards. Though it does however come with both Casual mode, plus a new feature called Mila's Turnwheel, which allows you to undo moves - perhaps a nice way to ease yourself into Classic mode without having to worry about permanently losing your allies.
As for Fates, a beginner should avoid Conquest, which is specifically designed with experienced players in mind, and Revelation, which is, uh, not very good. Birthright is decent enough - not too difficult, and offers casual and Phoenix (where defeated units return at the start of the next turn) modes for those weary of permadeath. It lacks in the story and cast departments, though, and you don't get the full story without playing all three. Plus most of its maps are simple rout (defeat all enemies) maps, so you don't get the variety of objectives and challenges seen in other games.
Awakening is, of course, the game that made the series as popular as it is today, and not without reason. It again features Casual mode so you don't need to worry about permadeath, and is not overly difficult. It also has the largest representation in Smash, with Chrom, Lucina, and Robin all hailing from here. However, like Birthright, it also suffers from all of its maps being either rout or defeat boss, and from overly simplified map design which waters down the strategic element of the gameplay.
Finally, the two GBA games. Both are available on the Wii U eShop, and The Sacred Stones was featured in the 3DS Ambassador program, so getting hold of them is easy. The Blazing Blade was the first game to come to the west, and features Lyn's tale, a mode specifically designed to cater to series newcomers and introduce the game's various mechanics and concepts. While The Sacred Stones is one of the more forgiving entries in the series from the pre-casual mode days, ideal for someone who is just learning the genre, and also features one of the more memorable character casts in the series. I would personally place the two about equal in terms of newcomer friendliness, with The Sacred Stones maybe having a slight edge. Or if you are coming from the 3DS games, The Sacred Stones will have more features you will be familiar with than other games, such as a world map and branching promotion trees.
Or you can just play Smash for Wii U. That's basically an FE game anyway, right?
So, with all these considered, my personal recommendation to any newcomers to the series is to start with either Awakening, The Sacred Stones, or The Blazing Blade. Once you get through maybe two of those games, you should have enough grounding in the series' gameplay and mechanics to be able to progress onto any other title.
Except Thracia 776. Oh boy. Seriously, don't play that one until you're like 90% done with the series.
(I might actually do a write-up on it at some point, if anyone is interested?)
--------
Of course, this is just my own opinion on it. Feel free to leave your own recommendations below. Or if you have any questions about which game is right for you, you're welcome to ask and someone will point you in the right direction.
First, let's have a bit of music as an accompaniment, because I probably went overboard on this so it's a pretty long read:
The first thing you'll probably want to know is that in general, most games in the series are related to only one other game in terms of the story, and instead have their own continuities. The series has a couple of "sub-series" - think something like how most Final Fantasy games have unrelated stories, but some entries like X and XIII have sequels of their own (X-2, XIII-2, etc). Here's what I mean:
- Archanea games: Shadow Dragon -> (Shadows of Valentia*) -> Mystery of the Emblem (Shadows of Valentia is set on the continent of Valentia, within the same universe as Archanea, though aside from a small number of returning characters its story is unrelated)
- Jugdral games: Genealogy of the Holy War -> Thracia 776
- Elibe games: The Blazing Blade -> The Binding Blade (though The Binding Blade was released first, chronologically it is set after The Blazing Blade)
- The Sacred Stones - standalone, no story connections to any other game
- Tellius games: Path of Radiance -> Radiant Dawn
- Awakening - set thousands of years after Mystery of the Emblem within the same universe, though for the most part you don't need to have played the other Archanea games to understand the story
- Fates - unconnected to the stories of any other game, except for a small number of returning characters from Awakening
- The first three games in the series - Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Gaiden, and Mystery of the Emblem - all received remakes (Shadow Dragon DS, Shadows of Valentia, and New Mystery of the Emblem respectively), so we won't consider the original versions good starting points due to their outdated mechanics and storytelling.
You might also like to know which games the FE characters featured in Smash originate from:
-
Marth: Shadow Dragon, Mystery of the Emblem - Roy: The Binding Blade
- Lyn: The Blazing Blade
- Ike: Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn
- Chrom, Lucina, Robin: Awakening
- Corrin: Fates
But the important thing to take away from here is that in terms of the story, it doesn't matter a great deal which one you start with, as long as it's not a direct sequel to another game.
One common concern people have is permadeath. Obviously if you're not used to the idea, the possibility of permanently losing the characters you've worked with throughout the game might seem daunting. Luckily, more recent games in the series have introduced the option of Casual (or Newcomer, in PAL versions) mode, in which defeated characters are not permanently lost, and instead return at the end of a battle. So points in favour of Awakening and Fates there (I would include New Mystery of the Emblem here, but...). You could also just look at The Sacred Stones, which is easy enough that even a beginner should have little difficulty in avoiding losing anyone.
In general the Japan-only games aren't a good place to start. The two NES games both have heavily outdated mechanics that make them difficult to get into for a newcomer to the series, so you shouldn't start there. The three SNES games and The Binding Blade too suffer from feeling somewhat outdated, and each of the first three games have received remakes that do a lot to modernise them and make them more accessible. Genealogy of the Holy War is best known for its massive maps, which aren't particularly welcoming to newcomers, and Thracia 776 just has so many things it expects you to just "know" about how the series works, that it should arguably be among the last games in the series you consider playing. As for The Binding Blade, while it is the game that Roy comes from, again it's not particularly beginner-friendly - reinforcements can appear and attack on the same turn, for example, potentially putting you in a very difficult situation if you don't know to expect them.
All of this is not even considering the issue of how to acquire any of these games and play them in English, which is the main issue ruling out New Mystery of the Emblem (that plus the fact it's a sequel to Shadow Dragon, so you'd likely miss a small number of story elements).
So with these in mind, where's a good place to start? Excluding games which are direct sequels to another game, we're left with The Blazing Blade, The Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance, Shadow Dragon, Awakening, Fates, and Shadows of Valentia.
The main issue with Path of Radiance is quite simply its extreme rarity. Right now on eBay, the game goes for anything between €70 (~$80 US) and €500 (~$587 US). So unless you have money to burn, just wait for a re-release or remake. If not for that, it's a reasonable place to start with, particularly if you've already played other strategy RPGs like Final Fantasy Tactics or Shining Force, and have some idea of what to do.
Shadows of Valentia, too, is perhaps better left until you have a little more experience in the genre under your belt. It's certainly one of the stronger entries in the series, but many of its mechanics are relatively far removed from the gameplay of the other games, so if you start here you'll still have a lot more to learn if you choose to play another FE game afterwards. Though it does however come with both Casual mode, plus a new feature called Mila's Turnwheel, which allows you to undo moves - perhaps a nice way to ease yourself into Classic mode without having to worry about permanently losing your allies.
As for Fates, a beginner should avoid Conquest, which is specifically designed with experienced players in mind, and Revelation, which is, uh, not very good. Birthright is decent enough - not too difficult, and offers casual and Phoenix (where defeated units return at the start of the next turn) modes for those weary of permadeath. It lacks in the story and cast departments, though, and you don't get the full story without playing all three. Plus most of its maps are simple rout (defeat all enemies) maps, so you don't get the variety of objectives and challenges seen in other games.
Awakening is, of course, the game that made the series as popular as it is today, and not without reason. It again features Casual mode so you don't need to worry about permadeath, and is not overly difficult. It also has the largest representation in Smash, with Chrom, Lucina, and Robin all hailing from here. However, like Birthright, it also suffers from all of its maps being either rout or defeat boss, and from overly simplified map design which waters down the strategic element of the gameplay.
Finally, the two GBA games. Both are available on the Wii U eShop, and The Sacred Stones was featured in the 3DS Ambassador program, so getting hold of them is easy. The Blazing Blade was the first game to come to the west, and features Lyn's tale, a mode specifically designed to cater to series newcomers and introduce the game's various mechanics and concepts. While The Sacred Stones is one of the more forgiving entries in the series from the pre-casual mode days, ideal for someone who is just learning the genre, and also features one of the more memorable character casts in the series. I would personally place the two about equal in terms of newcomer friendliness, with The Sacred Stones maybe having a slight edge. Or if you are coming from the 3DS games, The Sacred Stones will have more features you will be familiar with than other games, such as a world map and branching promotion trees.
So, with all these considered, my personal recommendation to any newcomers to the series is to start with either Awakening, The Sacred Stones, or The Blazing Blade. Once you get through maybe two of those games, you should have enough grounding in the series' gameplay and mechanics to be able to progress onto any other title.
Except Thracia 776. Oh boy. Seriously, don't play that one until you're like 90% done with the series.
(I might actually do a write-up on it at some point, if anyone is interested?)
--------
Of course, this is just my own opinion on it. Feel free to leave your own recommendations below. Or if you have any questions about which game is right for you, you're welcome to ask and someone will point you in the right direction.
