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Fire Emblem Series
- Thread starter NYCrooner
- Start date
clay_ghost
Member
You are in for a treat , most of the other Fe are better than awakening.
Juat avoid the Ds remake.
I think most can agree that pretty much every entry to the series has been solid. The criticisms are relative to the high standard the other Fire Emblem games set, and since this thread seems to have drawn a lot of long time fans, you're going to see a heavy emphasis on strategy and balance, which is a department that Awakening and Sacred Stones aren't as good at by virtue of the world map and infinite exp.
CrackPebbles
Member
Exactly how I feel, Regardless of my criticism I really thing Awakening is solid, and a great entry point (considering it was my entry point, and led to me playing the rest of the series)
Mark me down in the 'must know more' column, my most anticipated Wii U release.
Of course if this was any other game company I could buy the old Fire Emblem games digitally .. *grumble* *grumble*
Least I've got Sacred Stones on my 3ds I guess.
Laurentius
Member
yPrsk
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Though it may be selective memory on my part, I remember at Awakening's launch, the praise was so universal on sites like Gfaqs and Kotaku that anyone who voiced being underwhelmed by it became subject to the peanut gallery. It's interesting to see how much that has cooled since then. Don't feel weird though, if you are enjoying it that is a great thing. It is a good game.
I really wish this would happen.
CrackPebbles
Member
FE4 is my favorite next to 7, Although I don't know anything about the story since I can't read Japanese. But yeah 4 was recommended to me by a longtime fan after I told him that I wanted to get into the series.
Laurentius
Member
F8pZe
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Yeah I'd be a lot more forgiving if either the combat or plot was up to snuff, but everything is kind of a mess. I can't even say the ui is fine, because the DS touch controls were fucking great once you got used to it and they stripped most of them out.
The story gets worse. I think almost every FE I've played has been better on a plot front... (haven't played the Japanese-only releases or the DS ones)
But yes, the soundtrack and production values in general are ace. The final level's song almost made up for the disappointment. Check that out if you can.
BengaBenga
Member
Awakening is very good, but not as good as Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn in my opinion. I would start with Path of Radiance, which of all Western released FEs has the best story and play Radiant Dawn afterwards, which is the longest and has almost endless character development options due to lenght and split nature of the game.
There is a mostly complete fan patch. I'm not sure if they ever got the ending working though.
I was reading that some guy was reworking the whole translation on Serenesforest. Hopefully that pans out.
Also, we need an FE community thread.
Uchigatana
Member
In my opinion, I think that Fire Emblem (FE7) for the GBA is a good starting point. The game really accommodate with the newcomers of the series. It doesn't have the nifty skill system or the dual battles found in Awakening, but you can appreciate the diverse objectives in FE7.
Are you serious? The animation is stellar.
Good god that's a grand idea, why hadn't I thought of that sooner.
If people think doing extra world maps to gain XP is cheating they could just not do them.
Normally I'm not a fan of this sort of "make up your own challenge" logic, but if you consider doing anything aside from the story missions cheating just don't do them. To me is like complaining about the powerups that appear in Mario games when you die to many times.
It'd be nice if it stopped at that, but I have seen some pretty ridiculous "Do not Use" lists made by people deluded enough into thinking there's something approaching a fair challenge in Awakening.
Another problem is that the whole pair up mechanic kind of severely fucks up the progression for your party in comparison to the story progress, so if you don't immediately designate half your team as support batteries the enemies midway through begin to far outstrip a sizable portion of your team, which ends up only exacerbating things as it forces the player to rely on even smaller, more broken unit compositions.
Typically, you tend to get 2 or so games in the series that are set on the same continent and thus follow a certain chronology, though it is entirely possible that the second takes place generations after the first. This makes it very easy to get into any one of the games, as they usually do a great job at explaining the political situation before things get heated (in case you hadn't noticed, there's quite a bit of dialogue in-between missions). One thing you might find is that older FE games can be quite a bit harder (I say "can" because you are fully able to play Awakening the same way, but don't necessarily have to).
All in all, I feel like the easiest ones to get into the series are probably Awakening and Path of Radiance for the Gamecube. Many of the older titles have no alternative means of getting experience and can get horribly difficult for first time players (that is if you don't want to leave characters behind).
All in all, I feel like the easiest ones to get into the series are probably Awakening and Path of Radiance for the Gamecube. Many of the older titles have no alternative means of getting experience and can get horribly difficult for first time players (that is if you don't want to leave characters behind).
Whiteshirt
Member
I don't really think Fire Emblem is a particularly complex or difficult series to get a handle of, though the earlier games are a bit poor in terms of explanation of game mechanics.
I entirely agree that Path of Radiance is probably the key title to start with as its the most cohesive and fair Fire Emblem overall. Its interesting enough plot-wise, not too easy or too difficult, has lots of different mission types, doesn't throw excessively long chapters at you, and doesn't throw a completely excessive number of player units for you to use. Its the best paced Fire Emblem game of all of them.
I don't think the lack of alternative means of gaining experience is much of an issue with the older games. I think the bigger problem in the older games are poorly explained mechanics, less varied chapter design, or chapters that are just way too long. Few are actually punishing in actual difficulty if the difficulty is set accordingly...the only one that is actually punishing is Fire Emblem 5 (heal staves can miss in this game, really bullshit reinforcements if you aren't prepared for them, units with really awful growths, really awful lord, etc etc).
Whiteshirt
Member
Pick Hard. The only difficulty that is actually really stupid difficult is Lunatic, which I believe you can't access until you beat the game once.
Lunatic is available from the start. Lunatic+ is what's unlockable.
CrackPebbles
Member
Try normal I guess, classic or casual depending on your tolerance of soft resets. Any spikes in difficulty are only relative to how you are approaching the game compared to earlier entries, if you are balancing out your team and doing side missions you won't have too many issues.
fatgamecat
Member
FE12 great gameplay and map design, FE13 poor gameplay and map design. That about sums it up.
Awakening was my first FE. Loved it. I own a 3DS and a SNES. Should I play the DS FE remake? I have heard it's bad. Should I get a SNES FE? Or should I just replay Awakening?
I played Awakening on Normal/Casual (I know I am a bad person, but I had never played FE or any SRPG.) So maybe I should replay Awakening on Normal/Classic? Or possibly Hard/Classic?
I played Awakening on Normal/Casual (I know I am a bad person, but I had never played FE or any SRPG.) So maybe I should replay Awakening on Normal/Classic? Or possibly Hard/Classic?
Fire Emblem Awakening is probably the best starting point. It has the most modern presentation, and makes a lot of deviations to the Fire Emblem formula which make it a lot more forgiving than the other games.
Play that, and if you like it, try some of the others. Just know that the other games don't have world maps, and mostly lack the ability to grind.
None of the SNES games received localizations. However, FE4 was one of the best games in the series. It has a mostly complete fan translation patch.
Play that, and if you like it, try some of the others. Just know that the other games don't have world maps, and mostly lack the ability to grind.
None of the SNES games received localizations. However, FE4 was one of the best games in the series. It has a mostly complete fan translation patch.
Crimsonsky
Member
Awakening is a fine game, and an excellent starting point. Then I'd go for the Wii games, then the DS. They can be played in any order, it doesn't really matter. Some have references to other entries, but it's normally pretty tame.
Sacred Stones, better than FE7? Blasphemy!
I liked both titles, but FE7 provides the better challenge for me.
I obviously loved both but Sacred Stones still is my fav portable one because I liked the added liberty of training the character I wanted whenever I wanted it. And the game was hard enough because I am always playing with those rules: "no deaths allowed, grab all treasure, all characters". I remember that I had to redo some battles quite alot of times actually.
These are the rules I play by. Made Radiant Dawn a bitch at times, since the maps get to be 75-100 mins long near the end. I'd get 85% of the way through, place a healer or archer in a stupid location (or have an enemy pull off a 1% crit) and have to restart.
I started Radiant Dawn and fell asleep (lol) halfway through. I shall try to finish it at some point. And since you're at it I remember characters being killed like "one shot" in certain situations way more than in Path of Radiance. Anyhow, this thread gives a taste of finishing that game...
Radiant Dawn splits your units up into 3 parties, which you alternate between for the first 3/4s of the game. When you are playing Ike's squad, it's basically god mode, and you are unbeatable. When you are playing Micaiah's squad, it's the opposite.
Garou
Member
Sorry for hi-jacking this topic, but there is one thing I can't figure out looking a Wikipedia:
The first Fire Emblem was released on the Famicom: Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi
This game was then remade & enhanced for the SNES as Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo.
The first DS-entry was: Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken, again a remake of the very first one?
And the second DS-entry: Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū
was a remake of the SNES-title, which already was a remake of the first Famicom-title? A remake of the remake?
Has Nintendo basically released the same game 4 times???
The first Fire Emblem was released on the Famicom: Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi
This game was then remade & enhanced for the SNES as Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo.
The first DS-entry was: Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken, again a remake of the very first one?
And the second DS-entry: Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū
was a remake of the SNES-title, which already was a remake of the first Famicom-title? A remake of the remake?
Has Nintendo basically released the same game 4 times???
You forgot the best one
Yuusuke Kozaki's have done great job in some part of the character design in general, mainly in coloring and amount of detail he put to the costume. Of course there are problematic one like Nowi, Cherce, and Knight/General. Also not counting excessive number of absolute zone that most the female character have. But I think that have something to do with the art director though, not Kozaki himself responsible for that absolute zones. FEA designs is pretty mixed up. There are some excellent ones, and there are some horrible ones. Overall I like it more than most JRPG design out there though, mostly because quite grounded design and coloring.
PoR and RD art direction with Kozaki's design will make drool hard.
The SNES game (sometimes called FE 3) was a remake and sequel to the first Fire Emblem. The original campaign was remade, and the second half of the game was a followup campaign.
The first DS game remade the original Fire Emblem for the second time. The second DS game is a remake of the followup campaign.
Sgt.Pepper
Banned
Path of Radiance is easily the best one. I'll admit, it is a bit on the easy side, even on hard. But it is a magnificent game that should be played by all.
NeonZ
Member
I like Awakening's map design. Even the open maps generally have enemies and obstacles positioned in such a way that even "baiting" them into range, something usually very basic in other titles, can be rather dangerous (since they often have magic physical units side by side). They aren't just squares of enemies lazily thrown around. Even in the games with better positioning than that, it was generally much easier to provoke the enemy into getting into range in very stupid ways (for them).
Now, on the other hand, the messed up balance of some items, the free shopping and free battle nature of the game pretty much allows one to easily bypass all that and just plow through the game if you know the correct builds...
That only really happens in Lunatic. It's perfectly possible to play through with a full team on hard, even without grinding.
Still, I like the amount of content that Awakening offers compared to previous titles. They only needed some balance tweaks... I don't see why people want to associate the balance problems with game features that aren't directly related to them.
Now, on the other hand, the messed up balance of some items, the free shopping and free battle nature of the game pretty much allows one to easily bypass all that and just plow through the game if you know the correct builds...
That only really happens in Lunatic. It's perfectly possible to play through with a full team on hard, even without grinding.
Still, I like the amount of content that Awakening offers compared to previous titles. They only needed some balance tweaks... I don't see why people want to associate the balance problems with game features that aren't directly related to them.
Whiteshirt
Member
Kind of.
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi is the first Fire Emblem.
Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo has two parts. Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi makes up Book One or Part 1 and there is a Book Two/Part 2, which continues the story. Book Two is very much its own game in content. Think of it as Nintendo putting a reworked first game with the sequel to create a neat cohesive package.
Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken is a remake of Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi.
Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū is a remake of Book 2 of Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo. Remember that Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo's Book 2 has enough content to be its own game. Its also a very, very good remake all things considered though increasing the stat cap without re-balancing the game was a pretty big oversight.
Out_Of_Ammo
Member
I just got FE:A myself as my first FE game and it's amazing. Normally I don't even like SRPGs, but this one is so addicting. I also don't have the feeling I'm missing any background from previous FE games so it's certainly good as an entry to the series.