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[Peff]

If I remember correctly there's also a pretty neat encyclopedia accessible at any point of a cutscene by pressing L, so there's that too. I haven't played the translation patch but I imagine it's in English as well.

 

[Javier]

- Holy hell does this game have a lot of units. Is this a record for the most units in a Fire Emblem game? I am on Chapter 14 and I think I have close to 60. Looking through character lists it looks like I will get at least 15 more before I finish. This game has at least as many characters as Radiant Dawn without the game mechanic that splits them into 3 different parties until the end. As such, I have barely touched/haven't used two thirds of them.

77 make this the game with the most unique playable characters in the series if you don't count FE13's SpotPass/DLC characters, since those are mostly filler and don't affect the main story in any way (FE13 only has 50 main story characters).

Before this game, the most playable characters were in Radiant Dawn (FE10), which had 73.

 

[Socreges]

So how are people enjoying this compared to other Fire Emblems?

 

[The Awesomest]

I'm loving this. It feels like a more modernized FE7, without delicious dodge tanking Also There are so many characters I want to use! I wish I could use them all! However I do hope that someday we'll get something grandiose again like Radiant Dawn. That game has really grown on me. FE12 is really good, but no FE has ever felt as epic as Radiant Dawn was. I hope Awakening can at least approach it. Oh well, FE7 is still my favorite, and this is like a better version of it.

 

[OceanBlue]

So how are people enjoying this compared to other Fire Emblems?

The lack of RES is annoying me, but otherwise it's pretty fun. It feels like they did a better job than usual of putting thieves in tricky places to force you to take risks if you want to get all of the items in a map. 12 movement fliers hurt though.

 

[decoyplatypus]

So how are people enjoying this compared to other Fire Emblems?

I'm having fun, and it's certainly an upgrade over Shadow Dragon, but I don't think it's going to crack my top five. The default mode has generally been too easy. Many of the maps have not left much of an impression. If I restarted on Lunatic now, I'd probably think I was seeing a quarter of the chapters for the first time. The only occasions where I've felt pressed to open up the playbook involved chasing thieves.

I'm not a big fan of reclassing, here or in Shadow Dragon. I can see how it would be nice for a player who liked character X to be able to keep him/her viable by switching classes (if, say, X were a knight or an archer or something potentially problematic like that), but I usually relate to the characters based on their performance rather than cutscenes/support convos, so it doesn't make a difference for me there. I feel like it dilutes the team-construction part of the game without giving enough back in terms of strategic depth. But it's possible I'm being irrational.

I do like the "my unit" feature. It's neat to have a character with whom I have an immediate connection, and the character is a more interesting window into the world than Marth (a low bar, I know).

I'm through Chapter 16, so here's hoping there are some fun challenges ahead of me.

 

[kswiston]

I'm not a big fan of reclassing, here or in Shadow Dragon. I can see how it would be nice for a player who liked character X to be able to keep him/her viable by switching classes (if, say, X were a knight or an archer or something potentially problematic like that), but I usually relate to the characters based on their performance rather than cutscenes/support convos, so it doesn't make a difference for me there. I feel like it dilutes the team-construction part of the game without giving enough back in terms of strategic depth. But it's possible I'm being irrational.

It seems like most units are generally best suited for their default class. However, Luke makes an awesome myrmidon, which makes him much more useful early on than the 5000 horse units you get.

I'm currently on Chapter 22, which puts me a few maps from the end. Looking through a character guide, I am going to have to put three characters that I haven't been using on my team during the final map to recruit the last 4 characters in the game. Considering I have been grooming my final team for the past 10 chapters, that's an annoying game design choice. I'm too OCD to just skip those characters so I guess I will be hitting the Drill Grounds :/

 

[decoyplatypus]

It seems like most units are generally best suited for their default class. However, Luke makes an awesome myrmidon, which makes him much more useful early on than the 5000 horse units you get.

I'm currently on Chapter 22, which puts me a few maps from the end. Looking through a character guide, I am going to have to put three characters that I haven't been using on my team during the final map to recruit the last 4 characters in the game. Considering I have been grooming my final team for the past 10 chapters, that's an annoying game design choice. I'm too OCD to just skip those characters so I guess I will be hitting the Drill Grounds :/

Assuming you're on the normal difficulty mode, you should be okay even without training up those four. Only one of the four had done much fighting for me, and it wasn't an issue. I'm guessing most of the characters you've been grooming are capable of killing non-boss enemies (and, frankly, most of the boss enemies) in a single turn. If that's the case, you won't have to worry about the four recruiting units doing any fighting (though you will have to use a rescue staff to keep them out of harm's way).

 

[kswiston]

Assuming you're on the normal difficulty mode, you should be okay even without training up those four. Only one of the four had done much fighting for me, and it wasn't an issue. I'm guessing most of the characters you've been grooming are capable of killing non-boss enemies (and, frankly, most of the boss enemies) in a single turn. If that's the case, you won't have to worry about the four recruiting units doing any fighting (though you will have to use a rescue staff to keep them out of harm's way).

I ended up training the characters to Level 20 promoted before finishing the final map. I had tons of gold and excess items left over from the game and nothing else to use it on anyhow. The last boss was a bit of a joke. In all honesty, normal mode was basically the equivalent of easy mode from the previous console games. Once your characters build up enough speed that they can start doubling enemy units, you barely have to worry about strategy. Especially in the last portion of the game when you start receiving fortify staves.

The game was definitely a step up from Shadow Dragon, but other than that it would probably end up in the bottom portion of my ranking of Fire Emblem games. I have yet to play FE 1-3, 5 and 13 though.

It has been a long time since I have played the three GBA entries, but I seem to remember there being more variety to the mission goals in those games. Other than the tutorial/prologue and a few of the side stages, almost every map in FE12 is a "seize the throne" map. Since Marth is both the only unit who can seize the throne, and the only unit who can visit villages, things get tedious at times. Perhaps the original SNES game did things in a similar fashion, but that game is 20 years old.

 

[Javier]

Yeah, a lot of the things that feel "off" about this game is that they were on the original FE3. Every map was a seize map, only Marth can visit villages, and four particular characters need to be used in the final map if you want the perfect ending. This wasn't too annoying in the original FE3 because you had a lot less characters AND you could deploy more units. There were also no Base Conversations to unlock, so there was no reason to use the bad characters outside of a personal challenge.

FE12 is a GREAT game, and a vast improvement over FE3 and FE11 as it fixes the worst things about those games, but there were a few things that could have used some extra tweaking.

 

[decoyplatypus]

The game was definitely a step up from Shadow Dragon, but other than that it would probably end up in the bottom portion of my ranking of Fire Emblem games. I have yet to play FE 1-3, 5 and 13 though.

It has been a long time since I have played the three GBA entries, but I seem to remember there being more variety to the mission goals in those games. Other than the tutorial/prologue and a few of the side stages, almost every map in FE12 is a "seize the throne" map. Since Marth is both the only unit who can seize the throne, and the only unit who can visit villages, things get tedious at times. Perhaps the original SNES game did things in a similar fashion, but that game is 20 years old.

I agree. I think even if I replayed FE12 on Lunatic, I'd miss the varied mission structure from FE5-10.

Do we know if Awakening uses the map save system from FE11 and 12? I kind of like it as a middle ground between "quick-save only" and "save any time." You get most of the tension of potentially losing progress (if you want to keep everyone alive, which I've been trying to do less of lately), and you get a nice risk/reward element to when you use your saves. I vaguely recall an interview where a producer said the FE11/12 approach was not popular, but in any case I'd be curious to know what Awakening does.

 

[Crash Station]

Hmmm, only on chapter 4 but this seems way too easy on normal. Should I switch to hard even though that seems pretty tough even in the few prologue chapters I played of it?

 

[not psycho]

I'm not a big fan of reclassing, here or in Shadow Dragon. I can see how it would be nice for a player who liked character X to be able to keep him/her viable by switching classes (if, say, X were a knight or an archer or something potentially problematic like that), but I usually relate to the characters based on their performance rather than cutscenes/support convos, so it doesn't make a difference for me there. I feel like it dilutes the team-construction part of the game without giving enough back in terms of strategic depth. But it's possible I'm being irrational.

Yeah, I could have written this exactly. If you relate to characters based on performance, the ease and unlimited nature of reclassing, and the disparate range of available classes, is annoying. And knowing that you could reclass temporarily just for the stats feels wrong to me.

I would have made it so you need a fairly rare item to reclass someone, and probably given each character an individualized list of possible classes they were suited for.

 

[Javier]

I'd say finish the game on Normal first. The difficulty jumps quite abruptly depending on what you choose, so it's better to know how the game plays first.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Hmmm, only on chapter 4 but this seems way too easy on normal. Should I switch to hard even though that seems pretty tough even in the few prologue chapters I played of it?

Hard is, how should I say this, is way different than normal.

Enemy reinforcements entering the field immediately acts is really a pain in the ass. Recruiting certain characters is much harder to do too and you will also have to plan veeeery carefully if you want to ensure you get all the treasures from all the goddamn running thieves. Of course, this is assuming you want to keep all your characters alive while doing this--on some circumstances I have encountered it was a matter of luck and not skill, so there's that too.

Seriously, the levels were not unbeatable, and if you strategize carefully you can eventually triumph with all the spoils and riches, but expect a LOT of situations where you will be screaming "OH YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" to the screen. Quite often I came close on tearing my hair a few times due to frustration, hahaha.

It is important to mention, however, that by finishing hard you will unlock cross-class re-classing feature, which is pretty much a requirement to survive on Maniac and Lunatic difficulty modes.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Yeah, I could have written this exactly. If you relate to characters based on performance, the ease and unlimited nature of reclassing, and the disparate range of available classes, is annoying. And knowing that you could reclass temporarily just for the stats feels wrong to me.

I would have made it so you need a fairly rare item to reclass someone, and probably given each character an individualized list of possible classes they were suited for.

I think individualized class options could be interesting. FE12's split between class sets feels arbitrary to me.

I realize that it's weird to criticize a game for giving me options just because I don't like one of the options, but I think there are better approaches IS could take to the problems that reclassing addresses. The way I see it, reclassing is good in two situations: first, if a character is vulnerable on a particular map because of weapon type or a unique vulnerability (like fliers and arrows); second, if a different class complemented a character's growth rates (or vice versa). I think infinite reclassing is a dull approach to the first situation because (1) in a game like this, it's good if you can't build a perfect party, and from time to time the game makes you compensate for a weakness, and (2) losing weapon levels isn't enough of a penalty to make you think twice about reclassing. A better approach might be something like FE5's "dismount" option, where you could take a rider of his/her mount at the cost of a harsh stat penalty. The second situation, complementing character and class growth rates, doesn't strike me as a good justification for infinite reclassing either. First-time players can't be expected to know character growth rates, so the strategy element would really come down to saying "I'd like a few points of defense on my myrmidon, so maybe I'll raise her as a knight for a while." The problem there is that, again, I think the games are more fun when characters are super-specialized. The stat-boosting items are a pretty effective way of letting you patch up a few units (but not all of them), and there may be other, better ways, but reclassing seems too easy.

 

[kswiston]

The My Unit feature in this game seemed like it would be hokey in theory, but besides the intense bromance My Unit was having with Marth throughout the game, I actually enjoyed the feature. I'm glad to see that Fire Emblem 13 not only keeps the My Unit, but gives it a unique class as well.

I think individualized class options could be interesting. FE12's split between class sets feels arbitrary to me.

I realize that it's weird to criticize a game for giving me options just because I don't like one of the options, but I think there are better approaches IS could take to the problems that reclassing addresses. The way I see it, reclassing is good in two situations: first, if a character is vulnerable on a particular map because of weapon type or a unique vulnerability (like fliers and arrows); second, if a different class complemented a character's growth rates (or vice versa). I think infinite reclassing is a dull approach to the first situation because (1) in a game like this, it's good if you can't build a perfect party, and from time to time the game makes you compensate for a weakness, and (2) losing weapon levels isn't enough of a penalty to make you think twice about reclassing. A better approach might be something like FE5's "dismount" option, where you could take a rider of his/her mount at the cost of a harsh stat penalty. The second situation, complementing character and class growth rates, doesn't strike me as a good justification for infinite reclassing either. First-time players can't be expected to know character growth rates, so the strategy element would really come down to saying "I'd like a few points of defense on my myrmidon, so maybe I'll raise her as a knight for a while." The problem there is that, again, I think the games are more fun when characters are super-specialized. The stat-boosting items are a pretty effective way of letting you patch up a few units (but not all of them), and there may be other, better ways, but reclassing seems too easy.

I agree with all of this. I think I preferred the system of branching promotion classes that was found in a couple of the previous titles. It gave you a method of customizing your party a bit, but also retained the personalities of the units. Some of the characters are written as knights or archers, so it is strange when they are talking about unbeatable defenses when they are a cleric or something.

 

[Javier]

Hard is, how should I say this, is way different than normal.

Enemy reinforcements entering the field immediately acts is really a pain in the ass. Recruiting certain characters is much harder to do too and you will also have to plan veeeery carefully if you want to ensure you get all the treasures from all the goddamn running thieves. Of course, this is assuming you want to keep all your characters alive while doing this--on some circumstances I have encountered it was a matter of luck and not skill, so there's that too.

Seriously, the levels were not unbeatable, and if you strategize carefully you can eventually triumph with all the spoils and riches, but expect a LOT of situations where you will be screaming "OH YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" to the screen. Quite often I came close on tearing my hair a few times due to frustration, hahaha.

It is important to mention, however, that by finishing hard you will unlock cross-class re-classing feature, which is pretty much a requirement to survive on Maniac and Lunatic difficulty modes.

In addition to this, the enemy AI is also different. The earliest and most notorious example is in Chapter 6x. Here, in order to recruit Caesar and Radd (who start as enemy units), you have to beat the map with them alive. In Normal, they don't move from their spots, so you can easily go past around them, but in Hard and above, they DO move and they will suicide on you if you put an overpowered unit in their range. You pretty much have to position your units carefully on Turn 1, beg the RNG doesn't screw you over, and then end the map on Turn 2 (it's a really small map).

 

[decoyplatypus]

The My Unit feature in this game seemed like it would be hokey in theory, but besides the intense bromance My Unit was having with Marth throughout the game, I actually enjoyed the feature. I'm glad to see that Fire Emblem 13 not only keeps the My Unit, but gives it a unique class as well.

I was very pleasantly surprised by My Unit. I mean, I was bound to like him for his growths, but I also liked that I got to pick his background, and characters actually referred to it during the game. I wish My Unit had done less talking and more responding through text prompts (like he was a silent protagonist), but it was still a really good addition.

In addition to this, the enemy AI is also different. The earliest and most notorious example is in Chapter 6x. Here, in order to recruit Caesar and Radd (who start as enemy units), you have to beat the map with them alive. In Normal, they don't move from their spots, so you can easily go past around them, but in Hard and above, they DO move and they will suicide on you if you put an overpowered unit in their range. You pretty much have to position your units carefully on Turn 1, beg the RNG doesn't screw you over, and then end the map on Turn 2 (it's a really small map).

Do they not move on normal? I had weaponless defensive units blockade the starting island, which worked pretty well, but I guess I shouldn't have bothered.

 

[The Awesomest]

I ended up training the characters to Level 20 promoted before finishing the final map. I had tons of gold and excess items left over from the game and nothing else to use it on anyhow. The last boss was a bit of a joke. In all honesty, normal mode was basically the equivalent of easy mode from the previous console games. Once your characters build up enough speed that they can start doubling enemy units, you barely have to worry about strategy. Especially in the last portion of the game when you start receiving fortify staves.

The game was definitely a step up from Shadow Dragon, but other than that it would probably end up in the bottom portion of my ranking of Fire Emblem games. I have yet to play FE 1-3, 5 and 13 though.

It has been a long time since I have played the three GBA entries, but I seem to remember there being more variety to the mission goals in those games. Other than the tutorial/prologue and a few of the side stages, almost every map in FE12 is a "seize the throne" map. Since Marth is both the only unit who can seize the throne, and the only unit who can visit villages, things get tedious at times. Perhaps the original SNES game did things in a similar fashion, but that game is 20 years old.

I think the first FE game to have other mission objectives was FE7. It is a bit jarring playing the older games without that variety, but you get used to it.

Yeah, I could have written this exactly. If you relate to characters based on performance, the ease and unlimited nature of reclassing, and the disparate range of available classes, is annoying. And knowing that you could reclass temporarily just for the stats feels wrong to me.

I would have made it so you need a fairly rare item to reclass someone, and probably given each character an individualized list of possible classes they were suited for.

Have you been following FE Awakening? Because this is exactly what they do. Each character, including the lord and thieves and transforming units, has two classes they can change to, and it's different for each character. And you need a special item to execute the class change. The only exception is My Unit, who can change into any class besides special classes according to gender.

 

[decoyplatypus]

I think the first FE game to have other mission objectives was FE7. It is a bit jarring playing the older games without that variety, but you get used to it.

FE5 had other mission objectives too. It also introduced "rescuing" and a slew of other innovations (not all of which were successful).

Have you been following FE Awakening? Because this is exactly what they do. Each character, including the lord and thieves and transforming units, has two classes they can change to, and it's different for each character. And you need a special item to execute the class change. The only exception is My Unit, who can change into any class besides special classes according to gender.

That sounds like an improvement to me.

 

[Laughing Banana]

In addition to this, the enemy AI is also different. The earliest and most notorious example is in Chapter 6x. Here, in order to recruit Caesar and Radd (who start as enemy units), you have to beat the map with them alive. In Normal, they don't move from their spots, so you can easily go past around them, but in Hard and above, they DO move and they will suicide on you if you put an overpowered unit in their range. You pretty much have to position your units carefully on Turn 1, beg the RNG doesn't screw you over, and then end the map on Turn 2 (it's a really small map).

I admitted I was terribly, terribly frustrated by that map, holy fuck. I repeated it so many times due to faulty position experimenting and yes, due to Catria killing Caesar when he rushed her. I need to take out her steel lance for iron in order to ensure that he survives her counter :\

Not to mention I prayed fervently to the RNG gods when Radd attacked Marth when he is equipping his Rapier that Marth doesn't crit him.

I brought MU as a Berserker, Luke as a Swordmaster, Catria and Shida still as Pegasus Knights, Linde as Mage, Ryan as Archer, and Malicia as a healer. Need to refrain from attacking to prevent enemy dying so that they can block prevent those two fuckers making a beeline to my strongest characters.

Basically my strategy consisted of MU one-hitting the boss, Luke Armor-slaying the Knight, then Marth making a beeline up to kill one of the axe wielding enemies on the side, Catria killing the archer on the left, and Shida do whatever just flying up (I only bring her to increase her map count for support), while Linde went left on the center on one axe guy I deliberately left alive and Ryan guarding the bottom--I basically make him a punching bag, hahaha.

I was literally crossing my finger during the enemy's turn hoping everything went well and it did! God that feeling when Marth seizing that throne and those two idiot recruits still alive was immensely satisfying.

I LITERALLY don't know HOW it will be possible to do it in Maniac or Lunatic considering I was really frustrated doing it on hard.

 

[Crash Station]

Alright then, guess I'll stick with normal. I'm the kind of guy that likes to keep all my units alive and will reset if need be. I do hope it gets tougher though. I already feel overpowered.

 

[Boney]

go hard!

you know you want to

 

[Laughing Banana]

Alright then, guess I'll stick with normal. I'm the kind of guy that likes to keep all my units alive and will reset if need be. I do hope it gets tougher though. I already feel overpowered.

Actually, I really do recommend you to replay on hard, because:

1.) Finishing hard will unlock the cross-class reclassing feature, while beating normal won't give you anything, so you have something to yearn for for future replays.

2.) Hard is a very different experience than normal. You said "I already feel overpowered" which I think will make playing the rest of the game more like a chore to you than anything else. Hard is much harder than normal, yes, and you will be more frustrated, yes, and you can expect to reset a lot more times especially if you want to get all the spoils and keeping everyone alive, but in the end it will always give you a sense of challenge and much greater feeling of accomplishment. Not to mention playing on Hard will considerably up your play time considering you need to be a lot more careful and calculating, where in Normal you can pretty much just roll on.

3.) Hard is the *perfect* difficulty for this game, I think. Maniac is just annoying and Lunatic is just downright unfair, hahaha. I am NOT touching Lunatic Reverse with a 10 feet pole no siree no. Normal is just way too easy.

 

[The Awesomest]

FE5 had other mission objectives too. It also introduced "rescuing" and a slew of other innovations (not all of which were successful).

Oh yeah I forgot about those. But FE6 didn't have any of that.

 

[Macka]

Whoa, this is awesome. I'd give up on ever being able to play this one.

I never finished Shadow Dragon though...now I'm wondering whether or not I should go back and finish it...is the story of this a direct continuation of FE11?

 

[kswiston]

I'm pretty sure Radd and Caesar move on Normal if you get into their aggro range. I had one of them attack me. They don't rush you like the other units though.

Whoa, this is awesome. I'd give up on ever being able to play this one.

I never finished Shadow Dragon though...now I'm wondering whether or not I should go back and finish it...is the story of this a direct continuation of FE11?

Marth defeated the Shadow Dragon and Evil Mage with the help of a bunch of other characters. That's all you really need to know. This game fills you in on some of the details. It's been almost 4 years since I played Shadow Dragon, so I didn't remember any of the details, even though I did beat it.

Oh yeah I forgot about those. But FE6 didn't have any of that.

FE6 was a little plain too. But it's been many years since I played that game, and at the time I had only played the two officially translated GBA titles so I don't know if I noticed the difference as much. Fire Emblem 4 didn't bother me as much because the game only had 12 gigantic maps, instead of over 30.

 

[The Awesomest]

I'm pretty sure Radd and Caesar move on Normal if you get into their aggro range. I had one of them attack me. They don't rush you like the other units though.

No, I just played that on normal and they just stayed in their little forts, even if I was in range. Maybe you were right up next to them or something.

 

[decoyplatypus]

No, I just played that on normal and they just stayed in their little forts, even if I was in range. Maybe you were right up next to them or something.

They moved in my game. My first try at the map, one of them went north and got killed by Marth. I had to make sure only unarmed characters were in their range, and Caesar/Radd attacked those unarmed characters.

 

[The Awesomest]

Weird. Was Marth unarmed? Maybe they only go after unarmed characters.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Weird. Was Marth unarmed? Maybe they only go after unarmed characters.

Nope. Marth was armed, but it may be that stepping onto the bridges (where I set up my unarmed defensive units) aggro'd them.

 

[Rootbeer]

I am going to wait for 3.0.1... but is this a good starting point if you are new to the series?

 

[kswiston]

Nope. Marth was armed, but it may be that stepping onto the bridges (where I set up my unarmed defensive units) aggro'd them.

I didn't go near them at all. They may have a delay before they move on Normal though. The regular bandits rushed me, but Radd and Caesar didn't move for the first 2-3 turns. Maybe some people cleared the map before that happened.

I am going to wait for 3.0.1... but is this a good starting point if you are new to the series?

It depends if you plan on playing more than one game or not. It's a good introduction in that Normal mode is easier than the normal/easy modes in several of the other Fire Emblem game. It also lets you turn off perma-death for your units if that is daunting (though I think keeping people alive is half the fun/challenge). However, it isn't the best game in the series. If you are only going to play 1 Fire Emblem game, I would probably suggest Path of Radiance for Gamecube, or Radiant Dawn if PoR is hard to find now.

 

[decoyplatypus]

I am going to wait for 3.0.1... but is this a good starting point if you are new to the series?

Sure. The game has several tutorial chapters to introduce basic mechanics and strategy elements. On normal difficulty, it's one of the easiest games in the series. The story is a continuation of FE11's (or FE1's), but as was pointed out before, there's not much more to that backstory than "Good Prince beat Dark Wizard and Dragon." And the game gives you all the essential exposition. So it's a good starting point.

My only qualification is that there are better games in the series that are equally accessible to first-time players. If you can get a copy of FE7 (known as just "Fire Emblem" in the west), it also has a full tutorial, and it's an all-around better game. FE9 ("Path of Radiance") on Gamecube has a shorter tutorial, but it's also one of the stronger games in the series. Of the modern games (FE7 onward) the only ones you wouldn't want to start with are FE10 (because it's a direct sequel to FE9 and very difficult) and FE11 (because it's much weaker than the others). But this is a perfectly good place to start. It's a good game and very user-friendly.

 

[Laughing Banana]

It depends if you plan on playing more than one game or not. It's a good introduction in that Normal mode is easier than the normal/easy modes in several of the other Fire Emblem game. It also lets you turn off perma-death for your units if that is daunting (though I think keeping people alive is half the fun/challenge). However, it isn't the best game in the series. If you are only going to play 1 Fire Emblem game, I would probably suggest Path of Radiance for Gamecube, or Radiant Dawn if PoR is hard to find now.

Dude, he said he's a newcomer and you immediately suggest what is quite possibly is the hardest Fire Emblem of all? He'll cry, hahaha.

 

[ohlawd]

How do I check item descriptions during a chapter?

 

[kswiston]

Dude, he said he's a newcomer and you immediately suggest what is quite possibly is the hardest Fire Emblem of all? He'll cry, hahaha.

That suggestion was under that pretext of him only playing a single game out of the series. I might be in the minority, but I have always thought that the home console entries were stronger than the portable entries, even if I love FE7 for nostalgic reasons. Path of Radiance is obviously the better choice, but I don't know how easy that is to find now. I still see Radiant Dawn at Gamestop occasionally. Stories aren't so integral to the Fire Emblem games that you would lose much enjoyment playing the related entries out of order.

Radiant Dawn on easy isn't THAT bad. A bunch of the Micaiah chapters are still difficult, but the rest is pretty straight forward. The Ike sections feel like you are cheating.

How do I check item descriptions during a chapter?

If you go to the character summary, I think you can hit select or something to read item descriptions.

 

[Socreges]

That suggestion was under that pretext of him only playing a single game out of the series.

Yes, and you created that pretext. He wanted to know what the best starting point was and didn't suggest that he'd only play one.

 

[ohlawd]

If you go to the character summary, I think you can hit select or something to read item descriptions.

Select worked, thank you.

 

[kswiston]

Yes, and you created that pretext. He wanted to know what the best starting point was and didn't suggest that he'd only play one.

True enough

This game is probably the best intro of the handheld titles. You can turn perma-death off if it intimidates you, and I believe it was easier than FE7 on Normal. It's damn expensive to import though.

 

[Chrom]

Caesar and Radd moving in Chapter 6x depends on whether you're playing on Casual or Classic, I believe. I know of two different sites that say this.

Also, it's been a while since I last played FE5 but I don't believe dismounting entailed harsh stat penalties. Capturing and rescuing did that, I know that for sure, but my memory only tells me that, outside of Avoid and Build, the statistical differences caused by switching between mounted and unmounted were very negligible at most, if they even existed in the first place.

 

[Crash Station]

Alright, just spent 2 hours trying to get through the Prologues in hard. The difference between Normal and Hard is ridiculous. I don't know if I'm up for this either. Normal is too easy to the point of feeling overpowered, and Hard is too hard to the point of not having fun due to constant resets :/

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

Also, it's been a while since I last played FE5 but I don't believe dismounting entailed harsh stat penalties. Capturing and rescuing did that, I know that for sure, but my memory only tells me that, outside of Avoid and Build, the statistical differences caused by switching between mounted and unmounted were very negligible at most, if they even existed in the first place.

It depended on the class. I know Dean was pretty useless while he was dismounted.

There was also the issue of split weapon ranks, like how Fin or Dean couldn't use good weapons on foot unless you trained them with swords a lot.

 

[OceanBlue]

Alright, just spent 2 hours trying to get through the Prologues in hard. The difference between Normal and Hard is ridiculous. I don't know if I'm up for this either. Normal is too easy to the point of feeling overpowered, and Hard is too hard to the point of not having fun due to constant resets :/

It actually becomes easier when you get past the prologue and get more units. The first couple of chapters are easier than the prologue because getting promoted units to use as meat shields and healers makes it easier and because the enemies at the beginning chapters are lower levels than at the end of the prologue. I'm not very good at SRPGs, though, so I still do resets though, lol.

Edit:

On what point in the prologue do you particularly have difficulties?

It's all about baiting enemies one by one, if possible, and constant positioning. Sometimes the best tactic to survive is to not attack enemies, in fact, and march slowly and carefully.

This definitely helps too, especially if your units might die in two battles.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Alright, just spent 2 hours trying to get through the Prologues in hard. The difference between Normal and Hard is ridiculous. I don't know if I'm up for this either. Normal is too easy to the point of feeling overpowered, and Hard is too hard to the point of not having fun due to constant resets :/

On what point in the prologue do you particularly have difficulties?

It's all about baiting enemies one by one, if possible, and constant positioning. Sometimes the best tactic to survive is to not attack enemies, in fact, and march slowly and carefully. As you get more, better units (Catria!), things will get easier actually.

 

[Boney]

Alright, just spent 2 hours trying to get through the Prologues in hard. The difference between Normal and Hard is ridiculous. I don't know if I'm up for this either. Normal is too easy to the point of feeling overpowered, and Hard is too hard to the point of not having fun due to constant resets :/

You'll soon learn how to actually strategize instead of overpower everything. Try baiting and even waiting instead of attacking first to minimize damage. You'll start to get a feel on how chip away at enemies most efficiently and realize how important it is to create defensive walls.
Vulneraries are your friend as well.

 

[Laughing Banana]

You'll soon learn how to actually strategize instead of overpower everything. Try baiting and even waiting instead of attacking first to minimize damage. You'll start to get a feel on how chip away at enemies most efficiently and realize how important it is to create defensive walls.
Vulneraries are your friend as well.

"Defensive walls" or "route blockers" are very important, especially to protect your more lithe characters. ESPECIALLY true when they are approaching fortresses since often times reinforcements appeared from them and since on hard they immediately acts...

 

[Crash Station]

Well of course I had to wait at points. There's literally no way to keep everyone alive even among the first few prologue chapters if you attack when you can.

Anyway, it has gotten a bit easier in chapters 1 and 2, but still resetting a bunch. There's more luck involved than I would like, and the bosses actually leaving their castles is a big pain in the ass.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Caesar and Radd moving in Chapter 6x depends on whether you're playing on Casual or Classic, I believe. I know of two different sites that say this.

Also, it's been a while since I last played FE5 but I don't believe dismounting entailed harsh stat penalties. Capturing and rescuing did that, I know that for sure, but my memory only tells me that, outside of Avoid and Build, the statistical differences caused by switching between mounted and unmounted were very negligible at most, if they even existed in the first place.

Ilpalazzo has it right - the stat penalty depended on the class. You are also right that in most cases (though not all) the penalty was negligible or non-existent. My memory is the one that failed.

This game is probably the best intro of the handheld titles. You can turn perma-death off if it intimidates you, and I believe it was easier than FE7 on Normal. It's damn expensive to import though.

Yep, FE12's normal mode is a lot easier than FE7. On the other hand, FE7 is more in line with the average difficulty for the series, so if the difficulty is a major turn-off for someone, he or she probably isn't going to like the series very much.