Poll of the Day > fire emblem on 3ds?

(+) Yeah! (+)

so i heard from a couple people here and from my brother to get some fire emblem games

i've never played fire emblem before though so what should i start with
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Fire Emblem 7 or the Radiant series.

Skip the newer ones.

FE8's also good.

If you have to go with a newer one, Conquest is the more popular choice.
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There's a phone game my friend plays where you collect waifus. Significantly better than any main series Fire Trashlem game.
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Krow_Incarnate posted...

Fire Emblem 7 or the Radiant series.

Skip the newer ones.

FE8's also good.

If you have to go with a newer one, Conquest is the more popular choice.

those first few are ones i'd buy on virtual console?
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I'm pretty sure GBA games work naturally on 3DS, right?

The Radiant series is a no-go, unless it is on Virtua Console. However, it came out on the Gamecube and then later, the Wii.
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no they do on the regular DS though. there's no gba slot.
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Oooh, that bites.

I didn't know that.

If FE7 isn't on the VC(it could be under a few names; Fire Emblem, FE: Blazing Sword, FE: Rekka No Ken, though doubtful), then I'd say go with either of the Fates games. Although Conquest plays a bit more like classic FE.
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Awakening is a good intro to the series - it's user friendly and tones down some of the more assholeish elements that can nab new players (like Jeigan characters, difficult-to-recruit characters, limited experience, and - optionally - permadeath). It's also pretty engaging.

Fire Emblem 7 (simply known as "Fire Emblem" in the West) is a GBA game that is probably available on the eShop and is also good, but be warned it's probably the hardest of all the translated games (though not so hard that a beginner can't handle it - it was my first and I managed, albeit making a number of mistakes along the way).

The Radiant Series aren't on 3DS (the first is on Gamecube, the direct sequel is on the Wii) - they're good (especially the second one), but also hard to get a hold of these days. Sacred Stones (GBA) and Shadow Dragon (DS) are both pretty meh - Shadow Dragon, in particular, is very unpolished (it's basically a DS-rerelease of an NES game with no attempts to revise the mechanics to modern standards).

The other 3DS titles are Echoes (which I haven't played) and Fates (which has Birthright and Conquest variants). Fates is overall awful - the gameplay is alright, if you're playing Conquest, but the story is atrociously bad and the game itself gets boring quickly.

So yeah, stick with FE7 or Awakening and you'll get the two best games the series has to offer.
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I'm a huge fan of fire emblem; it's my favourite game series of all time. I think the Radiance duology (9 & 10) are the best of the lot, but that's just personal bias. It'll also be somewhat inconvienent to play them if you dont already own them.

For someone with minimal experience with FE, i would recommend FE8:Sacred Stones, or FE13:Awakening. They're quite forgiving for newer players, although you might find awakening to be very simple once you get the hang of things. Contrary to a lot of people, I think FE14:Fates is great, but there are certainly better entry points to the series

Also, keep in mind that like any popular game, there are tons of elitists out there who decry each new game (and they have been doing so since the first U.S. release, FE7. Don't get caught up in the negative talk (except for fe11, the shadow dragon remake, that's legititmately terrible.)
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Get Awakening if it's your first. From there, i'd say play Shadows of Valentia or FE7.


Krow_Incarnate posted...

If FE7 isn't on the VC

There are no GBA games on the virtual console
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If you're limiting to yourself to only the 3DS, grab either Awakening or Shadows of Valentia.

Awakening has the best balance of old and new, with stuff like character creation and the inclusion of a casual mode, while also retaining weapon durability.

Shadows of Valentia has the most old school feel to it of the entire 3DS bunch, and a lot of it may seem archaic these days. The map design and enemy placement are some of the worst in the series, support conversations are thin in number, the number of allies you have is quite sparse, units don't have many promotion options, things like that.

Despite all of that, it cuts fanservice out almost entirely (huge plus in my book), the dual campaigns are a ton of fun to go through, full voice acting, best story of the 3DS games, and it has dungeons, which are the best thing to come out of the series in a very long time.

Fates isn't bad, but it's a mixed bag, and I wouldn't suggest a newcomer to spend $80 to experience the full story. If I were gonna do that, I'd suggest hunting for a copy of one of the Radiant games. If you find yourself drawn to one of the Fates games, start with Birthright as it's the most forgiving entry.

okay cool thanks for all the input guys

if i decide to buy one of the games i'll keep all this in mind
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If you want to get a look at the basics of the series for free, just play Heroes on your phone, IMO.
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NOO

Don't play the old games first, play Awakening. It was the first FE game I ever played and one of my favorite games of all time. It was also the first Anime anything I ever liked.

It's also a weird relationship shipping mini-game. (That was my favorite part)

Awakening is probably the best intro. Fates took out some of the cutesy shipping stuff for the western release so I never played it, but it's probably good too.
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I'd play Awakening first. It's probably the easiest, but might still be somewhat challenging if you've never played a Fire Emblem game before. Also, though it may be "illegitimate" to say this, the animations and voices of Awakening (also of Fates) make it seem more real than the Game Boy Advance and DS Fire Emblems.

I've really only played awakening and FF7 and I adore both of those games .

Raganork posted...

Shadows of Valentia has the most old school feel to it of the entire 3DS bunch, and a lot of it may seem archaic these days. The map design and enemy placement are some of the worst in the series

The map design and enemy placements literally made me hate the game.

Why do they give the witches the ability to teleport and why are they so freaking common.

It sucks hardcore when your knights, who are useless against mages, are off tanking an army of melee users and a witch just teleports over and one shots them.

On topic though, start with Awakening.
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The problem with Valentia is that it's too faithful to the original game, and that was before IS knew much about decent level design. You've got 10 cavalry units that all stand side by side, or a mage that stands on a healing tile that spawns 6 winged monsters every other turn, or a building littered with mages and the only way in being through a tiny corridor.

It's stupid, but at the same time the difficulty level is low enough that it doesn't become too much of an issue. The AI isn't that great, with witches teleporting seemingly at random. A witch that could easily kill Lucas in one shot instead heads for an archer that survives and counters for the kill.

Still, it is a problem because it encourages the exact same strategy on almost every map: tanky units in front that turtle your ranged squishies. So in that regard, it's not a great game, but I still enjoyed it, largely because of the dungeons.

Here's your answer:

Radiant Dawn (Wii) and anything before it are fantastic games. Not only do they have great gameplay, but they're also so dignified that you feel you're really engaged in something meaningful. The character design reflects this and everybody is so cool. If the girl you're trying to pick up at the bar knew you played these games, you'd have nothing to be embarrassed about.

I just saw a pic from Awakening (3DS) last night where a fanservice loli is saying to a fanservice slut, "And they said they bet your boingy bits are white as snow and soft as pillows."

Ugghhhhhh man, does it really have to be like that??? I already know I'm an adult male living in my parents' basement and don't have a gf. Does the game HAVE to make me feel this much shame? Lol. But seriously.

Overall, Awakening is a much less dignified experience, whatever that's worth to you. And you can redo levels in that game (not in the previous ones), so exp is infinite and grinding exists -- this makes the experience feel cheap to me. I don't know if all the newer ones retained this trend, but I'd heavily wager that they kept the fanservice and less-interesting characters; so maybe they're great games too, but I'm confident enough they aren't my cup of tea.
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Krow_Incarnate posted...

Skip the newer ones.

this is an elitist opinion. the new ones are great. i'd say get awakening or conquest.

the older ones are fine but kinda aged. better to go with one of the newer ones.
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Fire Emblem (7) is the best one. Actually not that hard on Normal difficulty but it does have a great challenge mode called HHM.
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Dirtcruncher posted...

Overall, Awakening is a much less dignified experience, whatever that's worth to you.

Which is a way of saying that the quality of the writing for the series has degraded over the years. The new games lack any real gravitas, and are full of (stale) anime / manga tropes and clichés that, IMO, make them feel like a different series (if not for the game play). There are fun characters in there, but it does not feel the same, at least for Awakening and the Fates "trilogy".

Echoes is a distinct exception, IMO. The game play is old school, but so is the writing, and you can very clearly tell which parts of the story are from the original versus which parts are exclusive to the remake (e.g. the Supports, which often feel out of place to me). Fantastic character design, top-tier voice acting, just a fun experience for me. ... Do not play it on Classic Mode unless you want to be frustrated. Permadeath + really cheap AI and map design = not fun.

I got my start in the series on the GBA, and those are my favorite games (barring Echoes). I am one of the rare fans who really does not care for Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.
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ssj4supervegeta posted...

Krow_Incarnate posted...

Skip the newer ones.

this is an elitist opinion. the new ones are great. i'd say get awakening or conquest.

the older ones are fine but kinda aged. better to go with one of the newer ones.

It's not even about being "elitist".

The artstyle and writing in the newer games is complete utter trash, with worse characters.

Never mind the gameplay entirely.
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I_Abibde posted...

Dirtcruncher posted...

Overall, Awakening is a much less dignified experience, whatever that's worth to you.

Which is a way of saying that the quality of the writing for the series has degraded over the years. The new games lack any real gravitas, and are full of (stale) anime / manga tropes and clichés that, IMO, make them feel like a different series (if not for the game play). There are fun characters in there, but it does not feel the same, at least for Awakening and the Fates "trilogy".

Echoes is a distinct exception, IMO. The game play is old school, but so is the writing, and you can very clearly tell which parts of the story are from the original versus which parts are exclusive to the remake (e.g. the Supports, which often feel out of place to me). Fantastic character design, top-tier voice acting, just a fun experience for me. ... Do not play it on Classic Mode unless you want to be frustrated. Permadeath + really cheap AI and map design = not fun.

I got my start in the series on the GBA, and those are my favorite games (barring Echoes). I am one of the rare fans who really does not care for Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn.

You said it better than I could have. Def surprised, given your opinion about Awakening and Fates, that you don't care for the Radiant games.

I will add to my previous post that Awakening was a lot of fun (in case anybody thought I was being too harsh on it). It just doesn't have the gravitas of most American releases before it, which are just as fun anyway -- and that's why I really jump off its train and jumped away from the series as a whole.
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acesxhigh posted...

HHM

I still need to S-rank that mode; I already S-ranked pretty much other mode. I got stuck on the pirate ship level, gave up, and started playing Disgaea and Kingdom Hearts.
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Dirtcruncher posted...

Def surprised, given your opinion about Awakening and Fates, that you don't care for the Radiant games.

Like I said, I'm kind of a rare bird in that regard. Love the GBA games, especially Blazing Blade (best translation, IMO; they got Alexander O. Smith to do it), but the characters in the Tellius games just didn't click for me. Except Heather in Radiant Dawn, and who doesn't like Heather?
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Awakening is probably the best starting point right now. You can branch out from there.

Best games imo are Path of Radiance and Conquest.
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awakening on 3ds is the best and the best place to start, but the other ones are also great so you wont feel any kind of quality drop